tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53356981923400496532024-03-13T08:51:05.967-07:00Everything Equals EverythingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-9556089501011197062019-05-10T16:11:00.004-07:002022-09-18T08:37:04.484-07:00My buddy Shed: a tribute<br />
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Some day I may write about Shed, the dog I got from a
classified ad in 1977 when I was 19.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
had returned from one year at <st1:placename w:st="on">Antioch</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype> and was attending <st1:placename w:st="on">McHenry</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype>
in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Woodstock</st1:city> <st1:state w:st="on">Illinois</st1:state></st1:place>, living on my parent’s farm, and
working on a construction crew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“German
Shepherd Puppies, $15.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t ask or
discuss the purchase with anyone, I just went straight over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was told by the owner that these were pure
bred Shepherds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mother appeared to be, and the other pups could
have passed for Shepherd probably, but it was the one big black fuzzy friendly one
that came straight over to me, I thought almost like an adult would do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wasn’t a fully Shepherd pup, clearly, but I
picked her up and that was all it took. Her name was Shed.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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Some of the stories about Shed, which I might elaborate on,
follow:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h1>
EARLY YEARS<o:p></o:p></h1>
<h3>
Introductions<o:p></o:p></h3>
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I showed her to my folks the next morning, and they were
gracious in accepting this little bundle into the household.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I admit that I was a very attentive owner and
Shed, who I also called “buddy,” was, for the next many years, probably my best
personal friend.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h3>
Naming of Shed<o:p></o:p></h3>
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Yes, she took a long time – I thought – to learn where to
defecate and pee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, many accidents and
mop-ups later, I called her Shithead, affectionately of course, and the name
stuck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sometimes said it meant SheDog,
but it didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was nothing not to
love about that little puppy, and I don’t believe anyone ever was really
offended by that name.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<h3>
Fell in a Well<o:p></o:p></h3>
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Mom was working in one of the outbuildings (the farrowing
barn) and had removed the heavy square concrete floor-plug from the well, leaving exposed a
hole 1.5 foot square over the well that was maybe 8-10 feet deep. The
well was not filled with water, but it had pipes and valves and concrete blocks
at the bottom of it. Shed, trundling
around the building, tumbled in without a sound in the falling, or
afterwards. When a flashlight was
rounded up, there at the bottom she sat, looking up with interest at the faces
appearing in the little square frame of light way above.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h3>
Freezing Storm<o:p></o:p></h3>
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I was forgetful one night after letting her out before bedtime, and there she stayed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was
just several months old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a bad
winter storm, but instead of seeking shelter she had huddled by the back door
all night on the concrete stoop, fully exposed to the wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By morning she had melted a small hole in the
ice which was more than half inch thick, all the way to the concrete pad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was so happy to see me and tired, but not
troubled at all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h3>
Exhausted<o:p></o:p></h3>
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As a small pup, maybe 8 weeks old, I was surprised how
eagerly she followed me on a quick jog around the farm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She didn’t show any sign of fatigue so I
didn’t slow down, and she raced after me through the high grasses, in the tire
tread of the tractor lanes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It must have
been about 20 minutes and I was concluding that her stamina was endless as I
approached the farm buildings and headed toward the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as soon as she realized where she was she
threw her legs out to all sides and collapsed flat out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realized that she had probably been afraid
I was leaving her behind, and had been running for her life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h3>
Lost her First Tooth<o:p></o:p></h3>
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Some of my books said training could begin at three months,
so that’s what I attempted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, I
thought, she should learn to walk on a leash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She though it was great fun to bite the leash instead, and once I gave
it a tug to pull it out of her mouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was a braided leather leash and one baby canine tooth had gone into a gap in
the braid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It snapped off clean and she
made a facial expression I’ll never forget.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She didn’t yelp or howl, bark or growl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She didn’t seem to blame me, or make any noise at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She just gave a long wince and her little
puppy mouth turned into a little round hole in the front as if she was mouthing
“owwwwwwwwwwwwwww!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<h3>
Training<o:p></o:p></h3>
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I spend a good amount of time training Shed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d bought a half-dozen books or so, but then
just did what seemed right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She could
heel very well, and “heel close” meant stay <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">right
</i>there, when we were crossing the street, for example.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted her to trust me so when I went for a
jog on our <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Pioneer Road</st1:address></st1:street>
sometimes I'd tie her along the way to a road sign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then I would trot nearly out of sight … and then return. In retrospect I
should have left a note with her so no one “rescued” the poor abandoned dog,
but traffic was very light at that time and it worked out
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it had the intended
effect, and this confidence in me worked out well at college later.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So she learned that I could be trusted; it breaks my heart
now to think how it must have been, at her age of 6, when I went back to SIU
for my master’s degree and did not take her!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At the time I was distracted by my own life and did not fully appreciate
her loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this is always balanced by
knowing how well she was cared for by my folks -- who generously offered to
take her on – and also knowing that she had the run of the farm, with all its little smells and animals, changes, and little mysteries.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At one point I wrote down all the commands or words that I
knew she understood, because she would react to them -- and there were easily
50.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I taped the paper to the kitchen
cabinet but did not make a copy of it though I wish that I had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
Come/heel/sit/stay/stick around/go over
there/no/yes/good/ok/treat/let’s go/get in (the car)/other side (go around to
the other door)/wait/drop it/jump/over/go under/toy/leash … these were just
some of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would often put her
through the paces, which she seemed to enjoy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h3>
Chickens<o:p></o:p></h3>
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When quite young she killed a few chickens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They ran freely around the yard at that time,
and it really upset me because I thought that was a deal-breaker for me being able to keep her. You can't have chickens running free and a dog that kills chickens; and the chickens were there first. So I was more forceful in my training about chickens than I had been about
anything prior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took a dead chicken
and jammed it in her mouth and then punished her harshly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From that day on she killed no more chickens. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But she would never again accept anything from
my hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I were to offer her a piece
of meat, even, she would turn her head and tear up .. to her final day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h3>
My Pillow<o:p></o:p></h3>
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Another incident that happened once only was when we were
both very tired and napping on the floor of my room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I put my head on her as a pillow and we both
slept soundly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a time I roused
myself enough to crawl over to my bed to get a better sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was surprised to awaken and find that
Shed had climbed onto my bed and wriggled herself under my head as a pillow
still.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sorry to say that my reflex
was to chase her off the bed with a quick scold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She never let me use her as pillow, ever
again.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h3>
Climb tree<o:p></o:p></h3>
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When she was young she actually tried to follow me up a tree
and did get up the lower two branches, which surprised me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t remember which tree it was but my
recollection is that it was quite a feat for a dog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to help her down.<o:p></o:p></div>
<h1>
MIDDLE YEARS<o:p></o:p></h1>
<h3>
Personal Characteristics<o:p></o:p></h3>
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I never knew what it was of Shed that wasn’t full German Shepherd, but later when I got another dog I tried to find a match and settled
on a Groenendael (Belgian Sheepdog).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s unlikely that Shed’s father was a Groenendael because they are
rare; but whatever he was seemed to soften and sensitize her personality somewhat, compared to a fullbred Shepherd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also left one ear drooping while the other
stood up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This bothered me at first for
aesthetic reasons and I even had taped a toilet paper tube in it when she was a
puppy, to stiffen it – to no avail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That failed trick came from one of my books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later, she and I would sit side by side in
the back 20, overlooking the creek and her one ear would be trained to the
distance, the other left for local sounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I found that if I mimicked her panting, pausing alertly just like her, I
could experience the Back 20 something like she did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The chirps, the creaks, the croaks --<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I heard more of them with Shed beside me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h3>
Water<o:p></o:p></h3>
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She hated to be bathed, and suffered through it only under
command and only (to my knowledge) by my hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I did not bathe her often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor
did she like to swim – but she would ride happily in the canoe, stock upright,
still, and alert right in the middle, but she would not get into the water
unless (on rare occasions) she thought she was being left behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This sometimes happened when we would canoe
down the Nippersink Creek. She'd run along the bank and sometimes jump into shallow water to get to the canoe.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h3>
Bones, toys, and birds<o:p></o:p></h3>
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She would protect her bones and toys in an interesting
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I whispered “I’m going to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">get</i> it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Iiiiiii’m going to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">get</i> it!,
and slid the tip of my finger from her forhead to near the end of her muzzle, she would
curl her lips back until just<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a little
pad of skin was attached, just at the top of the tip of her muzzle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hard to describe, and I do have a short
video of this somewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I toyed with
her instincts this way often, as I think she liked it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I thought it was interesting to see what she did when I gave
her a rawhide bone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She absolutely loved
that, and I wonder why I didn’t give her one more often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But watching from the kitchen I saw the
oddest behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She walked slowly
around the yard in the same odd circuitous path four times, then suddenly broke
from the path in a fast trot, straight to the garden where I could almost see
her from the window burying the bone and stamping dirt over it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went to garden to dig it up (I thought it
a waste of bone), but I could not find it anywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since then I have seen very similar behavior
in another dog.<o:p></o:p></div>
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She would chase birds in the field, but never catch them. It
seemed to make her proud (or at least very happy) just to see them
scatter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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There was something nice about Shed that I never taught her,
which I now think is quite unusual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
would only defecate and urinate in tall grasses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was never – to my knowledge – a problem
with poop on the lawn at the farm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
don’t doubt it happened but I don’t recall a single pile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found out later, only with other dogs, that
urine leaves dead spots on the grass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
think there were none – neither at the farm nor outside my 4-room dorm at SIU
where Shed stayed for 2 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In her
later years this good habit ended, and as an elderly dog she would even poop
while walking – once, I remember, she dropped a load like a horse, as she
strolled passed someone’s picnic party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<h3>
Fireworks<o:p></o:p></h3>
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Many dogs are afraid of fireworks, I know. But not Shed. You
could hardly restrain her when the sizzling, hissing, shooting, and explosions
began.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She would lunge into a string of
firecrackers growling and snarling, and sink her teeth in if she could, and
then she would strut around proudly – you wanted to pin a medal on her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This came as a surprise and there were nearly
some accidents early on before I learned to tie or hold her.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h3>
Sleeping<o:p></o:p></h3>
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Shed would wander pretty widely at the farm in her
prime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’d often roam at night and
sleep much of the day under the kitchen table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One morning she came in, took her place under the table and fell asleep.
Some time later she stretched and yawned, and when she opened her mouth it was just as if a skunk had squirted
in the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, one had somehow
shot neatly into her mouth during the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Every time she opened her mouth it I was the same. I</span> took her to the bathtub and washed it with tomato juice. That helped quite a lot.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When she would find and eat some carrion (yes, she had an
iron stomach) you would know it by the rumbling and gurgling from under the
table, and the moans (or were they sighs of satisfaction?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She would often run in her sleep – you could
tell by all four legs twitching, with little bursts of barking puffing through
her sleeping lips.<o:p></o:p></div>
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She slept soundly under the table, but her favorite place to nap was on
the picnic table just outside the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There she could keep one eye open for whatever interesting might happen.<o:p></o:p></div>
<h3>
Doorbell<o:p></o:p></h3>
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Neighbors across the way claimed that very late one
night their doorbell rang and they found Shed on their front porch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently she wandered across the road and had rung their bell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was not happy about
the crossing the street part, but impressed by the bell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To my knowledge it only happened the one
time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<h3>
Kicked by horse<o:p></o:p></h3>
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Shed was probably 5 and didn’t bark much, but she did enjoy
chasing horses and birds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day, in
the corral, dad saw one of the larger horses catch Shed under the jaw with a
solid kick, and Shed flipped through the air and landed limp on the
ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was nearby and didn’t see it
happen, but came quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kneeled over
Shed to check her injuries, and pressed my head against hers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She suddenly awakened, got up, and walked
quietly to the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think she
bothered the horses quite so much after that day.<o:p></o:p></div>
<h3>
Lost in Rainstorm<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the most impressive events occurred when I was asked by a family friend to watch his house while he was on vacation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lou was an architect and the impressive house
stood on a hilltop across the highway in Bull Valley, more than 9 miles from the farm. Shed went with me, of course,
though I’m not even sure I told Lou that she would.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She slept in the house but stayed outside
when I went to work – this was just something she could routinely be relied
upon to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, one stormy evening I
went out with some friends after work and returned home at 10:00 or later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only was I very late, but the storm was
heavy and it went on and on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lots of
wind,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in a heavy Midwestern downpour,
for most of the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shed was
nowhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I called and whistled, and left
the door open (a nice overhang made this possible) and I left food out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I slept just a little as the rain fell and
Shed did not appear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember
listening to Leonard Cohen’s Ballad of the Absent Mare and I think of this
incident every time I hear the song still today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The song (quite beautiful) ends with the mare
appearing to the rider:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: sienna; font-size: 9pt;">Oh the world is sweet <br />
the world is wide <br />
and she's there where <br />
the light and the darkness divide <br />
and the steam's coming off her <br />
she's huge and she's shy <br />
and she steps on the moon <br />
when she paws at the sky </span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And in the early morning, while my grief was solidifying I
got a call from home: “Guess who is soaking wet and sleeping under the
table?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shed had run all the way back to the farm in the dark,
in a bitter rainstorm, 9 miles, a on a route that she had traveled once, in a car, and to my
recollection she hadn’t been paying particular attention on the drive over.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h3>
Hit by car<span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc250150161;"></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: sienna;"><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region></st1:place>
traveling when Shed was hit by a car in front of the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> She'd probably been chasing a rabbit I think she hit the car rather than the other way around. She was bruised and limping but she</span> recovered fully with just some
scratches on her muzzle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I came back
early from the trip anyway.</div>
<h3>
Traveling<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I did travel quite a bit with Shed, around the county, to
and from SIU, and on road trips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wherever I went, she went, for the first 6 years of her life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She would ride in the passenger seat, upright and alert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She turned quite a few heads
riding like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one rest stop I
recall a busload of Japanese tourists photographing her, very amused and
impressed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Harmonica</h3>
<div>
I played the harmonica back then, with more enthusiasm than skill probably, and it was fairly unusual instrument in the day. I'm probably the only Shed had ever heard doing it. I and a bunch of friends were hiking through the Shawnee Forest once when Shed disappeared for a while and then reappeared, high in energy like something really cool had just happened. A short time later we came upon a small campsite with another group of guys and they shouted out "who plays the harmonica?" I did, I told them and they all burst out laughing. Apparently one of them did too, and Shed had charged up absolutely <i>sure</i> that it was me. They had read the situation correctly. </div>
<h3>
Sense of Smell<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It wasn’t always apparent but Shed must have had an
extraordinary sense of smell, judging from the following event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was visiting Jack in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Maryland</st1:place></st1:state> about 1982.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He lived in the country where he and his
friend had built a kiln – there was a kiln-firing or party of some sort one day
I was there, and – being a bit of an outsider, after a while and for no
particular reason I decided to take a little walk down the lane away from the
compound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shed didn’t see me go, but I
knew she would both behave and wait for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The little hike lasted longer than I had expected because when I
wandered off the road into a forested area I found what seemed like a natural amphitheater
-- tall trees formed a fairly complete canopy overhead. There were low shrubs and
grasses but very little understory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
walked quite a ways in, checking some interesting patches of grasses, some
abandoned vehicles, etc. – mostly just enjoying the stroll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided to return to the road, but circled
back to see more on the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole
wander was at least a quarter mile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I
approached the lane I saw Shed racing down it toward me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a whim I froze, having heard that dogs
detect movement well but can’t make much out of still figures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure enough, she got to the place where I had
entered the glen, entered it herself (as if someone had told her where I’d last
been seen) and, in full alert, searched for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was in plain sight, maybe 40 feet away, but she gave up quickly, threw
her nose to the ground and set off at a full run retracing my steps over the
entire path I had taken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw the
entire thing because with no low trees the visibility was excellent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure I had left no visible trail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time she came up to me she was very happy
and out of breath and I had gained new appreciation for her extraordinary sense
of smell.<o:p></o:p></div>
<h3>
SIU<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I found an off-campus dorm at Southern Illinois University,
which I shared with three roommates who told me very clearly that they did not want a dog in
the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I moved in without Shed in September and for the</span> first Thanksgiving I went home and returned (with their permission ) with Shed for just the
few weeks until I took her back for Christmas vacation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just before we packed up for the holidays, I
was approached by all three roommates who asked me if I would bring Shed back
to stay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It worked out wonderfully for
nearly two years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It only became a
problem when, a year on, one roommate graduated to be replaced by a someone with a feral, disobedient dog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He argued that he should
be able to keep his dog in the house too, so we had to allow it. But that was
an entirely different matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Poop on
the lawn, saliva on the walls, mud all over, smells, and no obedience
whatsoever. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Perched on Fence<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At Southern Illinois University in the late 70’s dogs were
tacitly allowed on campus, and I was able to leave Shed outside any building
with the command “stick around.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s
where the training came in handy because “stick around” meant I would
reemerge eventually from the same door I had gone into. Even if I had not been in a particular building before I could trust her to hang around as I always made a point to exit the same door I had entered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She would not hover and worry, but would
wander and explore, and always close enough that I could summon her with my dog
whistle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day, after lunch in the
Student Center, I came out to find a small group of students trying to befriend
her, amused that she seemed not to care about them whatsoever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was never one to seek affection from
strangers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was heading another
direction, so started off and gave a whistle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Shed snapped to attention, full alert, but couldn’t pick me from
the crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of running toward the
whistle, she turned and raced up a nearby concrete ramp and lept, at half-story
level, onto the concrete railing just like a cat might do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then she saw me, turned and raced back down
the ramp and up to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
exhilarating to watch, and she did impress and astonish quite a little audience
that day.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Animal Control<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I would ride my bicycle to campus, about a mile, and Shed
would run beside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never carried a
leash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever class I took, she would
wait outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She would busy herself
chasing squirrels and birds, wandering about, but she never went far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She didn’t care for other dogs so was not
tempted away, and she was indifferent to friendly strange people as well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day I took my first karate class in the
Arena<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-- a large building on a different
side of campus from where I usually attended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was surrounded by mowed fields so there were no trees or squirrels
and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-- for Shed – probably of very little interest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I came out, almost 2
hours later, She was nowhere to be found.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I called, I rode around the vicinity, I whistled, I went home and got my
car and drove through campus, calling and asking about her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I felt terrible. </span>My last resort was to call animal control on
the outside chance that they had nabbed her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But she had had a collar with my name and number and no one had called, so I had little hope
about that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indeed, Animal Control had a dog that matched her
description but they said she looked sick and had nearly put her down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T</span>he dog they found was foaming at the mouth, as rabid animals do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I heard that I knew it was Shed as she
had not been raised with other dogs and was nervous around them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She foamed and drooled and lost all self confidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I rescued her immediately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It turns out that someone had removed her
collar.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Cold on a Camping Trip<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One winter day at SIU I thought I would go on a solo camping
trip, so I set off with Shed to the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Shawnee</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Forest</st1:placetype></st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was much slower going than I had
anticipated because of the foot of snow on the trail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one had been in the woods before me and
was a pristine as you might imagine, with all the crisp winter sights and
sounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We slogged through the forest
happily enough until night time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
pitched the tent, ate a cold can of soup, fed Shed and tried to sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then temperature dropped (I had been reckless
– at the time I thought adventurous – by purposefully not checked the weather
forecast). Surprise me! But it was COLD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was freezing in my sleeping bag and Shed,
next to me in the tent, was shivering too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So I unzipped the bag, pulled her inside, and zipped it back up,
barely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Normally she would never have
allowed that, and she was a little wet, but we
warmed immediately and slept like babies all bound up like that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Fleas and Tics<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One thing that didn’t bother me as much as it should have
was the fact that Shed got fleas and tics when she was in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Carbondale</st1:city></st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Neither seemed to bother her much – in fact I was hardly aware she had
fleas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But one summer when I vacated my
room to stay for free in the trailer park (watching a friends’ trailer), the
flea eggs hatched and the fleas multiplied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>According to my landlady it was as if the floor was carbonated with
fleas jumping, thousands of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
had the place exterminated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m afraid
that when Shed and I stayed one night at Cary O.'s apartment in Chicago we infested
it with fleas as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for tics, they
were just a matter of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As long as
she was in southern <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Illinois</st1:place></st1:state>,
if I looked for tics in her thick fur, they were there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Dozens, often many dozens of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I remember pulling them off and tossing them on the sidewalk, all grape-like
with clamp-mouths full of flesh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shed
didn’t seem to mind one way or the other.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Toc250150169"></a><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc250150169;">Tucson</span></st1:city></st1:place><o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The longest road trip she took was with mom and dad, out to <st1:city w:st="on">Tucson</st1:city> and I came down from the University of Washington in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Seattle,</st1:city></st1:place> about 1987.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were caught in a snowstorm and took a
motel in the pass one night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a
great surprise to see her, and I did get some video of Shed on that trip as I
had a video camera by then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, when
I left, I said goodby to Shed and the intense poignancy of the moment for her
was somehow caught in a photo Ellen took, I lost, but will always
remember.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was smiling, young and off
on my own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was looking at me
intently and, it seemed, with dread.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I believe we took her out to <st1:city w:st="on">Tucson</st1:city>
another year, as I have a photograph which I think was from 1983, the year
Chuck, Deb, and I hiked the <st1:place w:st="on">Grand Canyon</st1:place> –
Shed was not allowed in the Canyon of course, because of the wildlife and
burros.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t remember her on
that driving trip but she was so much a part of my life then that of course she was there. Only the photo proves it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h1>
LATER YEARS<o:p></o:p></h1>
<h3>
The Farm<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kogX8XhilMo/XZpQKcqKUEI/AAAAAAAAKag/3YqpPH0EjyYbsE5gBE2aOJNP-L9mheYFACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/momdadshed.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="362" height="197" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kogX8XhilMo/XZpQKcqKUEI/AAAAAAAAKag/3YqpPH0EjyYbsE5gBE2aOJNP-L9mheYFACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/momdadshed.JPG" width="320" /></a>I was not around much for Shed’s later years, but she
couldn’t have hoped for a better place to live than Pioneer Farm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She lived both inside and outside, enjoying
the warmth of the fire and the changing of the seasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mom and Dad, as always, were in constant
motion and – while they weren’t the same sort of buddy to Shed that I had been,
they were good friends and excellent caretakers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I understand Shed followed Mom, in
particular, wherever she went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not
always easy caring for a dog and I will always remember their generosity toward
Shed, and toward me by taking her in.<br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Saw a Deer<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She used to love to chase rabbits, especially from the hill a large grassy field away from the farm buildings. Apparently from that angle she could see them well and there was no shelter except the trees and shrubs way across. Off she'd go -- she'd give those rabbits something to think about, that's for sure but to my knowledge she never killed one.<br />
<br />
Shed was not young when Dad and I were driving back along
the trails, Shed in the middle of the bench seat in the cab of the truck, when
we saw a deer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were traveling<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>10 miles per hour maybe, but Shed shot
straight over me, cleanly through the open window, stretched out in the leap
like a deer herself, hit the ground and disappeared into the woods.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Run over by tractor<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mom was taking a group of girl scouts on a wagon ride to the
Back 20 and Shed followed along as she did at that time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was 14 years old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one point she was distracted by something
in the road and was caught by the narrow<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>front wheel of a large John Deer tractor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On this tractor the wide back wheels fell in
the same track as the front ones, and Mom couldn’t break until both wheels had
gone over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Miraculously, Shed got up and
returned maybe a half mile to the house, on her own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was in no mood for a wagon ride with young girls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it turns out, she had a broken spine and
her intestines had been pushed through her diaphragm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mom and dad took her to the surgeon, at great
expense I am sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was repaired and
her mobility was only slightly impeded for another good three years. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Death<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Shed died at the age of 17, much older than dogs her
size.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I dug her grave outside the house just
where her picnic table stood while she watched – of course she didn’t know what
I was doing but the memory of that is burned in my mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that time I thought she looked OK, not
ready to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it wasn’t much later,
as I was in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Athens</st1:place></st1:city>
visiting Chuck and Jean, just before Isaac was born, when Mom found her
standing with her head in the corner of the garage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was so weak and old that flies had laid
eggs and her poor skin was infested with maggots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mom cleaned her up as best she could, and she
and Dad took her on a last ride to the Back 20 which she loved, and then had
her put down and called me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved her
enough that now, 25 years later, parts of her story still choke me up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her friendship changed my life and still means
a lot to me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-73315291718626255632018-04-01T12:29:00.000-07:002018-04-08T08:33:37.501-07:00Insects vs. Insects -- My photographic arthropodousOut of college for the first time I became City Editor at the Richmond Gazette, a weekly newspaper in northern Illinois. I was the only reporter, photographer, copy editor, and layout guy. I carried a camera, shot black and white in ASA 400 or 1600 if the light was dim. I developed my own pictures in trays in a darkroom.<br />
<br />
One year I won best sports photography from the Associated Press, for a picture <i>after</i> a high school football game. The little team no one had heard of had somehow been winning like crazy all season and was about to go downstate and vie for the Illinois title. They had one last game at home to cap it off -- an easy win, more of a send-off celebration than an real contest and the whole town turned out. But they lost. My shot was of the bench, four muddy guys crying into muddy towels. The caption: "... the Rockets will be staying home."<br />
<br />
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q-LgCFwQsQs/WsEMxx-t-aI/AAAAAAAABSQ/XNBmmJkBR1MF7bE3r4J5jRNHj9zOnidAwCLcBGAs/s1600/longleggedfly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="720" height="305" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q-LgCFwQsQs/WsEMxx-t-aI/AAAAAAAABSQ/XNBmmJkBR1MF7bE3r4J5jRNHj9zOnidAwCLcBGAs/s400/longleggedfly.jpg" width="400" /></a>That camera was a Nikon, someone stole it just as things went digital and Nancy gave me a Panasonic Lumix, an autofocus that fit in my pocket. It had a Leica lens. In my tinkering I discovered an amazing macro on it and I started shooting flowers in her wonderful garden. Despite the rich colors, beautiful petals, and extraordinary detail it was still a point-and-shoot camera; the skill was really all in the gardening, not in the photography.<br />
<br />
One day a fly landed nearby, a green fly, a long-legged fly, and I shot it.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aM4BNrh8c54/WsEMx_kpyqI/AAAAAAAABSM/A56HsIjvpeQiTTRKespU4RaHGOmTzjzmACLcBGAs/s1600/spiderinleg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="960" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aM4BNrh8c54/WsEMx_kpyqI/AAAAAAAABSM/A56HsIjvpeQiTTRKespU4RaHGOmTzjzmACLcBGAs/s320/spiderinleg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Paltz New York</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
What startling details! I immediately went after flys and bugs, and saw the strangest thing I had never known. What was that ball of water in that housefly's mouth? What was that spider doing on that dead grasshopper? That Box Elder Bug was actually wrapped up in a spider web! That ant, what jaws! These became armored vehicles -- legs covered with spikes, mouth parts that shot out, feet like icepicks, eyes wrapped all around... It's like pokemon, like predatory aliens, like so many micro robots with Artificial Intelligence ... but real.<br />
<br />
From then on I used flowers as bait and backdrop. When I shot one I didn't recognize I identifed it the old fashioned way: I googled "flat faced hairy black fly with white eyes," or "shiny black wasp with purple abdomen," sifted through the images and nail it down from there. I started posting hits on an Entomology Facebook group where, if I couldn't identify them, someone certainly would. Judging from the speed and specificity of the response there are savants in that crowd I'm certain. The requirements for an amateur like me was that I say where it was taken, I had to have taken the pictures myself, and I was encouraged to add the Latin name if I could find it because common names are for ... normal people.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MYSG609ZJ2Q/WsEVhoikvZI/AAAAAAAABVY/gFeG4Uzz44kD6XZBIUAXc18lXaG9GHu_wCLcBGAs/s1600/baby%2Bspiders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="960" height="426" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MYSG609ZJ2Q/WsEVhoikvZI/AAAAAAAABVY/gFeG4Uzz44kD6XZBIUAXc18lXaG9GHu_wCLcBGAs/s640/baby%2Bspiders.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All pictures in this Blog were from Chicago Illinois, unless otherwise noted.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
When I posted a video of 1,000 baby garden spiders fleeing their fetal spider-ball someone called it "a whole lot of No No No!" which I thought was funny but she got shut down immediately by a crowd which has no tolerance for jokes of this kind. And you must say where it was found. Once I said I shot a stink bug in Chicago, then corrected my self later -- no, it was in Michigan -- and got a bunch of likes for the correction.<br />
<br />
So I've been hooked; I've taken thousands of arthropidic pictures -- insects and spiders mainly. I lost my first Panasonic sadly (with a whole lot of pictures on it, too!) but bought two more on ebay. It's a DMC-Z53 to be exact.<br />
<br />
So many jaw-dropping pictures I wouldn't know where to start so I'll focus on a theme within a theme: bugs eating bugs. Many of these were accidental shots, the horror of which I didn't realize until later... And that's enough talk. This post is about pictures.<br />
<br />
... like this one of a Spider Wasp, probably, <i>(Auplopus carbonarius, Pompilidae)</i> which bites the legs off of a young orb weaving spider <i>(Neoscona crucifera)</i> before taking it alive back to its nest to feed its young.. Woooohahaha.<br />
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.. Later I saw another one before the snipping began...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iutgiqg2Chk/WsEPFDeV5iI/AAAAAAAABTE/8VbF6B2P_zwsnUAU390gsjUIVXNU7msOwCLcBGAs/s1600/FB_IMG_1522548333067.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="945" data-original-width="1416" height="426" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iutgiqg2Chk/WsEPFDeV5iI/AAAAAAAABTE/8VbF6B2P_zwsnUAU390gsjUIVXNU7msOwCLcBGAs/s640/FB_IMG_1522548333067.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<div style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">
.. before you get too upset with the Spider Wasp, look at this one, in the mouth of a Robber Fly <i>(Dysmachus trigonus)</i>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--1WPbwTMiHg/WsEP2J-WyaI/AAAAAAAABUY/AimASCw0RJg5xMZfeo-irQIJXkb2rto4gCLcBGAs/s1600/cicadakillerinaction1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="1297" height="426" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--1WPbwTMiHg/WsEP2J-WyaI/AAAAAAAABUY/AimASCw0RJg5xMZfeo-irQIJXkb2rto4gCLcBGAs/s640/cicadakillerinaction1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I actually saw this Cicada Killer Wasp <i>(Sphecius speciosus)</i> take the Cicada <i>(Cicadidae)</i> down in flight. After a wrestle and a sting, off to the nest we go.</span></td></tr>
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Millipede <i>(Diplopoda Julida)</i> that came to a sorry end in a cellar spider's web.<br />
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Ok, it's not an insect eating an insect, but at least these two American Dog Ticks <i>(Dermacentor variabilis)</i> still have chunks of my dog Anicca <i>(Canis lupus familiaris) </i>in their mouths.<br />
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This Gray Cross Spider, Bridge Orbweaver (<i>Larinoides patagiatus) </i>wove an orb and caught a Gray Sunflower Weevil <i>(Smicronyx sordidus LeConte)</i>.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BgoQGpDyJEs/WsEPvHzbVNI/AAAAAAAABTc/C9AvalC9AOwl2Ab90ghv_fZtY_b1M5ixgCLcBGAs/s1600/FB_IMG_1522548552086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="960" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BgoQGpDyJEs/WsEPvHzbVNI/AAAAAAAABTc/C9AvalC9AOwl2Ab90ghv_fZtY_b1M5ixgCLcBGAs/s400/FB_IMG_1522548552086.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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A Yellow Paper Wasp (<i>Polistes dominulus) </i>enjoying<i> </i>the core of a young Orbweaving Spider.<br />
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... and another Orb Weaver <i>(Araneus diadematus)</i> with an ambitious project ahead; a Lightning Bug <i>(Lampyridae)</i>.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DbSLvd-qCIg/WsEPvUZHwrI/AAAAAAAABTg/gWjJIJaWb3ct-2H13fTZWI7SMBpEclqTQCLcBGAs/s1600/FB_IMG_1522552038270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DbSLvd-qCIg/WsEPvUZHwrI/AAAAAAAABTg/gWjJIJaWb3ct-2H13fTZWI7SMBpEclqTQCLcBGAs/s640/FB_IMG_1522552038270.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I'm throwing this one in for comic relief. The Bumble Bee (Hymenopterais Apidae Bombus) is quite alive, it's a defensive posture I'd never seen before. I wonder why?<br />
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Maybe it's the <i>Felis catus</i>.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.6px;">Jumping Spider <i>(Salticidae) </i>that I saw jump and catch this Midge <i>(Chironomidae).</i></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4NdFtXNcEsk/WsmHfZuUz-I/AAAAAAAABWk/BSgWS4qHQ4ou6uVxXFtInK4M6wlE2n1RgCLcBGAs/s1600/mouthful.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1043" data-original-width="1421" height="467" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4NdFtXNcEsk/WsmHfZuUz-I/AAAAAAAABWk/BSgWS4qHQ4ou6uVxXFtInK4M6wlE2n1RgCLcBGAs/s640/mouthful.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's another, a different day.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">... and by now we know what's going on here...</td></tr>
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Cellar Spider <i>(Pholcidae)</i> with a Crane Fly (Tipulidae latreille).<br />
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Orb Weaver with something -- a June Bug? <i>(Phyllophaga?)</i> -- apparently wrappen in celophane, for later.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jSxdvdbtkBg/WsDzky07shI/AAAAAAAABRU/KSzeRLW2r7AeHQkzgQ9hsglUNvL41dFnACLcBGAs/s1600/antbotapillbug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jSxdvdbtkBg/WsDzky07shI/AAAAAAAABRU/KSzeRLW2r7AeHQkzgQ9hsglUNvL41dFnACLcBGAs/s640/antbotapillbug.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here is a Carpenter Ant <i>(Camponotus pennsylvanicus)</i> with a pillbug <i>(Armadillidiidae).</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b1eUPRq0dJ0/WsDzg2nW_9I/AAAAAAAABQ4/dhxLvIotE8QC0gslKtL_LbZiQFeCjnFSwCLcBGAs/s1600/FB_IMG_1522552046447.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="720" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b1eUPRq0dJ0/WsDzg2nW_9I/AAAAAAAABQ4/dhxLvIotE8QC0gslKtL_LbZiQFeCjnFSwCLcBGAs/s400/FB_IMG_1522552046447.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Buffalo, Michigan.</td></tr>
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The spider of unknown species furtively emerged to feed on this live and tethered Horsefly <i>(Tabanidae</i>). It went on for hours.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3zMS55Z1X3c/WsDzhSJ9G5I/AAAAAAAABQ8/jQKtBoBp1h8bypwA8j2uVyfTTf0RSIesQCLcBGAs/s1600/FB_IMG_1522552137674.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="713" data-original-width="960" height="474" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3zMS55Z1X3c/WsDzhSJ9G5I/AAAAAAAABQ8/jQKtBoBp1h8bypwA8j2uVyfTTf0RSIesQCLcBGAs/s640/FB_IMG_1522552137674.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Robber Fly with a hapless Green Bottle Fly <i style="font-size: 13.6px;">(</i><span style="font-size: 13.6px; text-align: start;"><i>Lucilia sericata)</i></span><span style="font-size: 13.6px;">.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Here's that Boxelder bug <i style="text-align: start;">(Boisea trivittata) </i>in trouble. Maybe wondering what comes next...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Yellow and Black Garden Spider <i>(Argiope aurantia)</i> with a Monarch Butterfly <i>(Danaus plexippus)</i>. The web ladder is the Garden Spider's signature reinforcement -- apparently they especially enjoy the larger prey</td></tr>
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So it's about the start of a new season and I'll pay special attention for mayhem in progress. Spring starts with ants and flies, then spiders come out and they dominate the summer. Summer brings all forms, from the pestilent Japanese Beetles and the legion Boxelder Bugs, to the bald-faced hornets, creepy plastic Earwigs, the centipedes, butterflies and moths. The smaller they get, often the more bizarre. Most of the summer, try stopping what you're doing for a moment and get down low, You'll find something fascinating.<br />
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I'm happy that I don't live at their scale -- I simply wouldn't stand a chance ... but seriously, how can you not really really like bugs!?<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-66636383209560358482018-03-26T19:41:00.000-07:002018-10-24T16:17:21.258-07:00A Canine and Feline friendship ... a Memorial<br />
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A pet is not like a real child, I’ve had some of each so I
can say that with certainty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But anyway there’s
something special about your animals, maybe even more dear when you raise them <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">with </i>children because there are so many memories woven together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll tell you a story about my dog
Anicca to commemorate her death on Nov 1 2017.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ilVHE4wNMEk/W9D9VVB_ODI/AAAAAAAAFd8/Ou8LQPOZVPkXiYhOIqyt7MW2MtwqbEpjACLcBGAs/s1600/cloudandanicca.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ilVHE4wNMEk/W9D9VVB_ODI/AAAAAAAAFd8/Ou8LQPOZVPkXiYhOIqyt7MW2MtwqbEpjACLcBGAs/s400/cloudandanicca.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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It’s actually a story of Anicca and her brother Cloud who
was a male kitten we acquired around the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anicca was a Groenendael – a Belgian Sheepdog
– and she looked like any Groenendael, an unusual breed in the states. Something
like a collie/shepherd mix, long hair and all black.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Agile, smart, devoted, sweet, and beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Chicago I used to run on the beach with
her and she would heel close on the sidewalk and sit at intersections with rapt
attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> When we hit the beach </span>she’d be “on call” as I jogged down the shoreline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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It takes a little patience and training, but there is absolutely nothing like a well-behaved dog. I was a good dog owner, and she was certainly a good dog. Technically, I suppose leashes were required on the beach but we would go on off-hours and she was on a verbal
leash -- she’d come immediately when called. </div>
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All the subtle communication aside, if I were to simply count the commands I suppose it would be more
than 30: Anicca, hello, good dog, good girl, inside, outside, ok!, no, do you want?, I love you, bad/wrong, come, come!, wait/stay, lie down, lie flat out, where-is/bring me, toy, kong, sit, go over there, go <u>way</u> over there, hungry?, goodbye, heel, look around, you’re free!, treat, water, pee, hungry, cat, go for walk, beach, and more.<br />
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On the beach, because she really knew <i>come, heel, sit, no, ok, </i>and<i> stay,</i> I could also teach her “<i>you’re free!</i>” Then she’d explore, track squirrels and play with other dogs ... always with an eye out for my next communication. Even in the depth of
winter, 20 below, she would love to hear the word “Beach!”<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FzUdHQ9hXHk/WrmsP6Z1KdI/AAAAAAAABPU/W3wOVu7K9BsDBNO3FzoQ8rW1c-Z4HaEQwCLcBGAs/s1600/anicca3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="720" height="376" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FzUdHQ9hXHk/WrmsP6Z1KdI/AAAAAAAABPU/W3wOVu7K9BsDBNO3FzoQ8rW1c-Z4HaEQwCLcBGAs/s640/anicca3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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In the house she would sit then hunt for treats, find her kong, fetch a toy … all the normal dog games, and she loved to
play hide and seek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d throw a toy a
few times for fetch and then suddenly hide – I mean <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really </i>hide – like third floor in the closet hide … and she would
not give up until she found me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What fun, for both of us!<o:p></o:p></div>
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One day, when she was about nine, I noticed she was
slipping in her responsiveness, not listening so well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was really a joke when I thought “what, has she gone deaf?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I said “BEACH” just to test that ridiculous
hypothesis and to my amazement … nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“TREAT.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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She was deaf and I mean stone deaf.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For months I mourned the loss of my connection to this
wonderful creature until I suddenly realized ok she was deaf ...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but she was neither blind nor dumb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Coincidentally, </span>I had taken a class in American Sign Language just because it's wonderful. So I taught Anicca,
in ASL, all the commands she once knew. Inside, outside, come, stay, treat, walk, love you ... everything. She learned it all again, and fast. We were back in business! </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now a bit about Cloud, my son Aidan’s cat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the family ceremonies we created was the “big boy celebration” at the age of five or so when they could read, add, ride
a bike, etc. (we had a fun little list that included "going on a boat.") ... and then they got to choose a pet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isaac chose gerbils so I built a little PVC track running
from their main cage to a vacation home mounted by his bed, and Captain and Cuddle-Captain would run
back and forth to get treats and such.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Aidan chose birds but a series of tragedies led to him picking out the next family cat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He selected a sick little white kitten which fell so ill we had to take it back
for transfusions. Anicca, a pup herself,
was concerned and licked and licked and licked this poor creature like a
mother would lick a pup. Cloud, a stoic little tissue of a kitten, leaned into the loving. </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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Cloud not only survived, he turned out to be an athlete and quite a character. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are so many, but my favorite story about Cloud is
when he prowled intently into the living room, tracking a fly that was bumbling
along about three feet off the ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cloud
leapt into the air, caught the fly between his paws and<i> landed on his haunches</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Staring,
he slowly opened his paws like a book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
fly escaped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wouldn’t have believed it
if I hadn’t seen it myself.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So Anicca and Cloud grew up together, nothing like
your normal cat-dog relationship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two
free spirits and unlikely friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> W</span>hen
Anicca went deaf it didn’t matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> But a</span>t 12 or so Cloud fell ill again and this time he was diagnosed with something more serious -- feline diabetes. The
vet gave him a week and a half to live, or we could admister daily insulin shots and blood draws to manage his blood
sugar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We discussed it and chose palliative
care instead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too many shots, too much
pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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Cloud stopped eating almost immediately but lasted more than a month. As he lost his weight he spend his days in
the yard under a large-leafed plant and then he’d come in for the
evening and sleep with one or the other of us. While he was wasting away, he was
always purring. Visit him under his
bush? Quietly purring. Touch him at night? Faintly purring. </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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So Cloud was prostrate on the couch, skin and bones and I was fixing a
screen when Aidan called from college. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
chatted on Skype a while and then asked if he’d like to see Cloud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, of course ... </div>
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But Cloud was not on the
couch;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> h</span>e wasn’t anywhere. He was in no
shape to jump out the open window so I searched the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I looked again -- I looked every place a
cat could possibly crawl into to die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally -- although I couldn’t believe he could get to the window then jump to the deck -- I
looked in the yard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The entire garden, under
every plant, every crevice and corner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Twice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then a third time with
Aidan, on Skype.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Cloud had simply disappeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I scoured the chain linked fence to verify
there was no place to crawl through. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
only possible thing I could imagine is that Cloud had gotten up, climbed to the
window, fallen to the deck, and had been carried away by a hawk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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The next day was Monday, no Cloud still and I had to go to
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a last resort I turned to my
deaf dog and asked “where/find/bring me”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“cat” … “where/find/bring me”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“cat," though "cat" was not a word she used often. To you that would just be palms-up-pulling <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>…
pinch-and-pull an imaginary whisker … palms-up-pulling <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>… pinch-and-pull an imaginary whisker.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anicca got excited, she was on full alert!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She scanned the yard and sniffed and then suddenly
honed in across the fence to our neighbor’s yard, like a pointer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there was Cloud, struggling and stumbling
across the grass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow he had climbed
to the window, survived the fall to the deck, clawed himself to and over a 4 foot fence, and survived all
the nighttime carnivores.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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I jumped the
fence and scooped him up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aidan got to say goodbye, and so did Nancy and I. </div>
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Cloud died in our arms that afternoon.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Then Anicca died, also in our arms, last fall.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-37695935217186154992018-02-17T19:28:00.000-08:002018-04-23T10:28:52.382-07:00Teaching My Amygdala a Lesson!<br />
Robert Sapolsky, in his recent book <u><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Behave-Biology-Humans-Best-Worst/dp/1594205078/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518911075&sr=8-1&keywords=Behave">Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst</a></u> (2017), has quite a lot to say about the amygdala, that small, very old, bit-of-an-almond-shaped unit found on either side of the brain in all mammals. It’s right under the temporal lobe. The popular joke is that it triggers the three F’s: flight, fight, and sex ...but it’s fundamentally about fear and anxiety.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iwItLwsHt3c/WojTadMn5vI/AAAAAAAABN8/8-Z-CisUTU0nygnul1ZOHFLstTO-cJB4gCLcBGAs/s1600/amygdala.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="http://brainmadesimple.com/amygdala.html" border="0" height="157" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iwItLwsHt3c/WojTadMn5vI/AAAAAAAABN8/8-Z-CisUTU0nygnul1ZOHFLstTO-cJB4gCLcBGAs/s200/amygdala.JPG" title="" width="200" /></a>The amygdala receives direct sensory input -- vision, olfactory, tactile, etc. -- and it also has complicated relationships with other parts of the brain. It sends signals to other areas and it can be influenced by the other areas too -- most important for my purpose, by the rational prefrontal cortex which, as Sapolsky puts it, encourages you to to the harder thing, when it's the right thing.<br />
<br />
In a prophylactic sort of way thoughts from the prefrontal cortex can moderate the intensity with which the amygdala attaches meaning to sensory input. It's as if the cortex can coach the amygdala, but the amygdala takes the first swing at incoming signals and that starts the mind off in a certain direction. We're talking about a fifth of a second.<br />
<br />
The amygdala goes a long way explaining our natural sorting into Us's and Them's. That sorting, Sapolsky explains, is generally along two dimensions: warmth and competency. For the true Us's (high warmth and competence) we feel pride. At the other extreme (low warmth and competence), disgust. Low warmth/high competency evokes envy, high warmth/low competence, pity. (It gets even more interesting when the categories change, p 413). My point here is that the amygdala sets in motion some perspectives that can have real emotional ramifications.<br />
<br />
After the amygdala takes its first whack the other parts of the brain kick in with their assessment, possible adjustments/corrections, and perhaps an emotional/behavioral response. For some people that initial intuition becomes quite a guide for behavior; others prefer to later think things through. The key for my purpose here is that the amygdala is a <i>direct </i> recipient of sensory input, is the first-processor of it, and it operates within a fifth of a second <i>before</i> we are consciously aware.<br />
<br />
That makes it a potential enemy, as the algorithms it has developed are less relevant now in the modern world. If someone or something in the thicket looked dramatically different from you 50,000 years ago there's a pretty good chance that it <i>might be</i> an immediate threat, you <i>should </i>be anxious, you <i>should</i> feel threatened, and maybe you <i>should</i> react. But unfortunately in the world we live in now the amygdala remains (or, Sapolsky suggests, has become) highly sensitive to race.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Quoting Sapolsky: <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>“A hugely unsettling sensory cue concerns race. Our brains are incredibly attuned to skin color … We may claim to judge someone by the content of their character rather than by the color of their skin. But our brains sure as hell note the color, real fast.”</i> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(p85)</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Sapolsky again:<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>“Threatening faces produce a distinctive change … in under two hundred milliseconds. Among white subjects, viewing someone black evokes a stronger [threatened] waveform than viewing someone white.”</i></span> (p 86)</blockquote>
Other things activate the amygdala too. Gender, age, and occupation often trump race (p 408) and social status also is used sorting Us's from Them's. (p 388) Facial expression is processed too, but only for people already identified as an "Us". (395) In most situations, most of these attributes matter less today, you would think. And so "we feel positive associations with people who share the most meaningless traits with us." (390)<br />
<br />
Because it works before our awareness <i>we</i> can't be blamed for the amygdala's behavior .. that is, until we learn that we can override its suggestions, and even prime it with thought. Sorry about this: we can. A few hundred milliseconds after that first amygdala hit, messages start merging from the frontal cortex which can dampen or begin to correct that primitive impulse. Also good: the amygdala can be influenced by a little advanced processing. "Race as a salient Us/Them category can be shoved aside by subtle reclassification." (p 408) For example, when subjects were shown pictures of vegetables and asked to guess whether people would like them, the amygdala wasn't activated by those people's different races!<br />
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These thoughts were playing in my own brain as I walked through the Newark Airport recently. I have found airports to be extraordinary places to think about people. When foot traffic is high I often marvel at how the human rushing flow finds its own patterns with rivulets of more hurried travelers finding smooth ways around the slower groups, constant merging and diverging at intersections, large moving masses easily flowing around sudden obstacle -- all without any rules or instructions or enforcement and without the frustration and rage you might get on a real road.<br />
<br />
But that day foot traffic was not heavy and I thought instead of how international airports are an amazing confluence of strangers. Is there anything else is quite like them? A shopping mall, you might think, but people there are more homogeneous and the crowds are generlly smaller and less hurried. Sports stadiums are huge too, and full of strangers. But there is a clear sense of shared purpose at a football game; there's the "Us" on this side against the "Them" across the way. There's traffic on an interstate, all strangers there too, but far less dense or personal.<br />
<br />
But in an international airport you will find people from all over the world -- all races, ethnicities, languages, classes, religions, and ages. And aside from small traveling groups and employees everyone is pretty much a stranger to everyone else. It's a nice place to think about strangers, I found. That day I was trying to notice my amygdala sorting strangers into "Us's" and "Them's."<br />
<br />
I remembered a trick I've used with some success to sort in ways that are more meaningful than my almond-size amygdala is inclined to do. I reasoned that race and gender are pretty much a given and they're not very revealing unless I want to draw on -- and perpetuate -- crude stereotypes. But clothing is a choice. Why not try to sort people on the basis of something they actually have some control over? That man's suit suggests he's doing business right off the plane. The woman with the scarf over her hair looks Muslim. That child in the Buzz Lightyear outfit is carefree and cool, I have shoes like that, I'd never wear that sweater, and so on... It seemed a more useful and realistic sorting of Us and Them, I thought. It took a lot of effort, it was an interesting exercise, and I could feel the difference. I also tried it with facial expressions, noting "happy," "sad," "anxious," "confident" as another way to override my crass biases ...<br />
<br />
But people wear different sorts of clothes for all kinds of reasons and facial expressions are fleeting and hard to read. Are the sweat pants because they're cheap, or because they're comfortable? Is that group laughing because they are happy or are they laughing at the homeless man? She's anxious, yes, but just until she sees her gate ... not too useful. So I asked myself again -- what is the most important thing about people, something fundamental and real that I can easily assess. If I’m going to make a purposeful note of something to prepare, override, or dampen my initial evolutionary impulses, what would it be?<br />
<br />
I may have found it, it’s a beautiful solution, it's very egalitarian, and it's super easy. What’s the most important thing about people? They’re there. They exist.<br />
<br />
What's more, there is nothing particularly important about their proximity to me. Just as the Earth is not the center of the universe, I am not the center of this airport. Sure I do have a particular vantage point that limits my experience but the woman sitting at Gate 8 across the way is no more or less important than the man I'm passing.<br />
<br />
I think my experience with Robert’s Rules helped me come to this. When I was made chair of the senate it was, to be honest, in disarray. It was considered a "snakepit" by some and there was a move underway to disband it. So I read Robert's Rules, the Constitution and Bylaws and then simply treated every senator as equal, with an equal voice, equal right to speak, with a perspective of equal value, and with a perfectly equal vote. It didn't matter that some would rather bully, interrupt, intimidate, or try to force their views, Robert's Rules required me not to let them. No one had more or less of a role than any one else. That approach, I found, had a leveling effect and after a time I felt it helped to dramatically heal and strengthen senate behavior and process.<br />
<br />
So in the airport, just the same, I gave up the sorting hat altogether, gave up the goal of figuring out who might be more of an Us and who more of a Them. I wanted to jam my amygdala with a predisposition which my prefrontal cortex can get behind: we’re equal. Of course I didn't expect that everyone would suddenly be my friend, I was just trying to override those default, hardwired, outdated, quick biases which jam me up a bit in the modern world. One fifth of a second override, that was all I was looking for; relationship building can still come later.<br />
<br />
My trick -- which may sound either brilliant or crazy -- was to replace every person in my field of vision, for a instant, with an identical marker: I used a stick but I suppose it could be anything: a dot, whatever, but all the same. So many human beings, so many posts, so many equals. I simply noted their number and their distribution.<br />
<br />
This was so easy! Just a flash now and then, identical sticks, one per human regardless of age, gender, race, anything. First hit: no judgment. Just how many and where.<br />
<br />
The result? It seemed to make a difference on my outlook, I felt a little more informed about my environment, and the initial leveling was right in line with my egalitarian convictions. I was just a stick too. Then, of course, my prefrontal cortex came flooding in with its own observations, but it felt like a better place to start!<br />
<br />
To make it a little more fun, though maybe to overextend it a bit, next I tried to notice something more, to add the next meaningful layer. What is the next most important thing, once I know number and distribution? Simple. Next, tell people apart. So the second layer of Environment Scan 2.0 was not faces (because so many new faces do look alike) and not race (because there just aren't that many different ones). But those crazy red shoes! … that zebra-striped bag .. those baggy pants and sneakers… Back to clothes! But this time without any judgment, no sorting. It took a little effort but clothing can make pretty good unique identifiers for total strangers. And I actually surprised myself by later recognizing a few people I'd seen before, by that t-shirt or striped scarf. Hey there’s the stick with the baggy pants again, there’s that stick in red shoes! I’m joking of course, by that time they were fully human.<br />
<br />
But I liked it! Ha! Take that, amygdala!<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here's a well known and highly respected "Implicit Bias" test conducted by Harvard, in which you can see your own by clicking "e' or "i" on your keyboard when you see pictures; they explain, it's easy. Read about your results and their overall findings on this site as well. Remember to select your letters <i>fast</i> if you want to test your amygdala. If you take your time, like most of a second, that sophisticated prefrontal cortex begins to kick in!</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html">TAKE THE HARVARD TEST</a></blockquote>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-23765308204215406822017-12-16T07:48:00.000-08:002017-12-22T09:07:53.841-08:00Buddhism and Evolutionary Psychology<div class="MsoNormal">
Robert Wright’s latest book brings together two big ideas: 1)
Evolutionary psychology and 2) Theravada Buddhism. It’s pretty wonderful as I’m very familiar
with both and yet the connection hadn’t occurred to me. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When I read Wright’s <u>The Moral Animal</u> a decade ago I
was reassured that people can both accept evolution in its full force and not
worry about falling wholesale into immorality.
There is plenty of evidence for cooperation and reciprocal altruism in
nature – this is a theme I’ve explored in this blog years ago and one that he
extended with his second book <u>NonZero</u>.
Now he’s written <u>Why Buddhism Is True</u> binding evolution,
psychology, and the Thai-Forest Buddhist philosophy/practice. Buddhism, he summarizes
“has been studying how the human mind is programmed to react to its environment…
Now, with Darwin’s theory we understood what had done the programming.” (p 224)<o:p></o:p></div>
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There are many kinds of Buddhism (“Zen is for poets, Tibetan
is for artists, and Vipassana is for psychologists” ) and some carry
supernatural beliefs like reincarnation which Wright and I reject.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Vipassana meditation,
from Theravada Buddhism, is sometimes called “mindfulness” meditation and has a
great deal of support in the books I read. I meditated regularly for most of a decade and intend to
return; I’ve never doubted
the value of sitting quietly and watching the mind.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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First, a little background, the basics of evolutionary psychology. Our brains were groomed over 3.5b years to compel
us toward things that increase the probability of passing on genes and steer us
away from threats. Of course that was a
very different environment than we have now.
Things that worked well enough were hardwired and things that didn’t
were combed away. There was no premium
on accuracy so we are beset with delusions, illusions, and impulses, all nicely patched up with convenient rationalizations. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This hardwiring becomes a problem when the environment
changes faster than the genes do. Simple
example: once storing enough calories was a pretty big problem so craving fat
and sugar was selected for. When fat was scarce, that helped. We still have the craving but now we put on dangerous weight. Offense triggers aggression?
That worked for us once, now we get stupid road rage. Impulses are not always the best guide.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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And while we get pleasure from satisfying our
impulses it doesn’t last very long. Why
should it? There’s no traction in satisfaction -- we have to reset quickly to be ready for the
next impulse. Studies have shown that even after winning the lottery people
soon go back to feeling a “normal” amount of happiness again.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thoughts can inform emotions, that’s what cognitive
behavioral psychology has shown us. But emotions, Wright says, are the real drivers of action and the prefrontal
cortex, our "thinking" and most recent part of the brain, then rationalizes the action. This is not intuitiv. We feel as if “we” simply make decisions and act on them. Brain
scan studies show the brain signals movement before the person herself know she's going to move her arm. On seeing a stranger the amygdala announces within 0.2 seconds “attractive=friend” or “stranger=danger” before our prefrontal cortex -- and our awareness -- registers “thing.” In a world of snakes, cougars, and warring tribes
this reactive module was useful so evolution locked it in. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Wright then pointed out the next logical thing, and I was surprised that it
hadn’t occurred to me: Emotions can be
true or false. This goes against popular psychology but if the feeling of desire (groomed by
evolution) says “eating this bag of chips is good for me” -- and it’s really not -- your desire is lying. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Now a little background in Buddhism, there are three truths
to existence 1. Anicca, 2. Dukka, and 3.
Anatta. Nothing is permanent, there is suffering,
and there is no self. The last one probably
requires a little explaining.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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What are the fundamental qualities of self? Buddha started with the proposition that to be “self” it must have some consistency through
time and it must be something
that we control. Both of these concepts
are implicit in the sentence “I did that.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Buddha said there are five aspects to our
existence. 1. the physical body and its organs, 2. our basic
feelings, 3. perceptions of things, likes vison and hearing, 4. mental formations
like thoughts, habits, etc, and 5. consciousness which is the awareness of the
other four. That’s a real simple summary
but the question becomes which of these is something that is persistent through
time and under our control -- the answer of course is none of them. Meditation helps you see that one by one. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Hence, no self.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So why do we have a “sense of self?” It’s good for the organism to look after its
body, the discrete package that carries its genes. In fact the body is probably the most
important thing, you want to wrap it up with a protective sense of self. If you don’t <i>feel </i>that there is something real special about what’s inside your
skin you won’t have a reason to protect it.
Good thing, too, if we’re going to live, right?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Of course that's impossible for a human to easily accept, but to get a taste of no-self try this. Meditate and focus on something that you'd normally consider part of you -- a thought, a desire, a pain ... When it becomes the object of your attention it seems to become something other than you.<br />
<br /></div>
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The brain encourages use to recognize a special "self" which we fiercely protect. That makes evolutionary sense. Wright wonders whether self should be so discreetly bounded. In meditation he noticed that a pain in his foot sent a signal
to his brain – “inside = me.” A bird
chirping sends a signal to his brain – “outside = not me.” But, he wondered, in what sense is the
cramp different from the song? They both are signals, both are processed and interpreted by the brain. Both can affect our outlook.</div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Modular Theory of the Mind is pretty compelling, I thought. It goes something like this. The mind contains competing
modules, each of which stimulates the organism toward taking some sort of action. The strongest module wins. Plenty of studies show how we can
easily fabricate reasons for doing something when we actually had no reason whatsoever. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A quote shows a good example of how this can work: “A
long-term module may generate a sense of guilt when you reach for that chocolate
bar. It may also give you a feeling of pride when you resist the allure of
chocolate. On the other side of the
contest is the chocolate lust generated by the short-term module. But the short-term module may have subtler
tactics as well. Is it, perhaps, the
module that dredged up the memory of that article about the long-term benefits
of antioxidants? It just thought the
long-term module might find that article interesting?” (p 129)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This has a practical implication. Instead of trying to overcome a habit – say,
smoking – by strengthening self-discipline, maybe try instead to weaken the
module that has taken control. How do
you do that? Simply by looking at it
carefully, and that’s where mindful meditation comes in. Looking closely at the desire can turn it into an object of interest rather than a transparent impulse. Mindful observation, he says, keeps the module from getting its reward. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wright uses the example of a rat which pushes a lever to get
a reward. Keep the rat away from
the lever and the rat will still associate
the lever with reward; when you look away he'll push it again. On the other hand if you disconnect the lever
from the reward, the rat will lose interest in the lever. In the mind, you need only to bring the lever
into your awareness to disassociate the
two. From my experience, this can work.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wright also explores the “essence” of things. These are the adjectives we assign to
objects -- that house is a “modest” house, or that person is a “nice”
person. Everything meaningful in our
awareness is an association we have assigned to it, he says, and again, this has evolved for practical reasons.
Once you categorize something you don’t
have to continually reassess it. Attaching essence to things is something we do all day. It's a shortcut we aren't even aware of. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We also have an “essence preservation mechanism.” If
a friend does a bad thing we consider it unusual, just as when a “bad” person
does a good thing. Still good. Still bad. Wright suggests that not seeing “essence” consists mainly of
not feeling intensely toward things. “Dampening of feelings leads to clarity of
vision,” he says (p 165) “… not making
judgments’ ultimately means not letting your feelings make judgments for you.” (223) <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The way to see this for yourself is through meditation, he says. It’s the practice of “fighting your creator:
natural selection.”<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-30524491034249772632017-04-29T15:54:00.002-07:002018-01-15T19:27:10.491-08:00Algorithms To Live By (Book Review)<div class="MsoNormal">
When I’ve recommended a book to more than a dozen people and
bought a few copies as gifts, I like to distill my notes one more iteration. So I’ll jot
down here what I liked most about <u>Algorithms to Live By</u> by Brian Christian
and Tom Griffiths. Griffiths is a
psychologist and cognitive <o:p></o:p></div>
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scientist at Berkeley and Christian is a science
writer. The book rolls out a series of optimization
algorithms discovered by mathematicians and computer scientists but presented at the
human scale. These solutions help when your system crashed and they also help on your
bookshelves, in your communication with friends, when parking, and in your refrigerator. <br />
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Marriage Problem – Look and Leap</b><br />
This is called the Secretary Problem but I think marriage is more
interesting. If you’re looking for “the
one,” exactly how long should you play the field? Assume you can’t go back and propose to an
old girlfriend. First decide what age
you’d like to marry, count the years to then and shop around for 37% of that
time. During that period note the “best”
candidate but don’t marry her but after that 37% time period marry anyone you come across who's better than that. This will maximize your
chances. Of course it’s a bit more
complicated than that… But let’s say
you could determine “best” in a reasonable way, what is your chance of marring
the “best” of them all this way? 37%. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Oh so now you say you <i>can</i>
go back to an earlier date and propose?
And there’s a 50% chance she’ll accept?
Then look for 61% of your time then leap, simple as that. Oh, marrying just for the money, and you can measure
your date’s net worth easily? Then set a
threshold at 95<sup>th</sup> percentile, marry the first who’s worth more. But that threshold will fall as you exhaust
your pool, the tables are in the book. </div>
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By the way, best chance of getting the
wealthiest this way: 58%. See how fun it is?</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Setting a Home Price</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sell a house like this, if you know the high and low
expected bids and can calculate the cost of waiting. You can calculate your threshold price, which
you apply immediately and never change. If the range is $400k to $500k, it’s a slow
market and waiting costs $10k an offer, hold out for $455,279. The graph is in the book.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Parking</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Parking a car and know the occupancy rate? With a 99% of spaces taken, you should start
looking ¼ mile from your destination. If
it’s 85% full you can drive within a half block.<o:p></o:p><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Getting Caught</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh you’re a burglar and if you get caught you lose
everything? You want to know how many
burglaries to do? Just take the chance
you get away and divide it by the chance you’ll get caught, burglarize that
many times, then quit.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Explore vs Exploit</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How long should you shop around for new friends or
restaurants (explore) and when should you stick with your favorites
(exploit). That depends on your time
frame. Finding a new great restaurant
isn’t going to be worth as much if you’re about to move out of town. So explore early on, then exploit. There are several models you can use: “The Gittins index and the Upper Confidence
Bound ... inflate the appeal of lesser-known options beyond what we
actually expect, since pleasant surprises can pay off many times over.” I’ll leave the details for the authors to
explain.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Adaptive Trials</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Adaptive trials are interesting, they allow you to gradually
phase out the less promising of two experimental clinical techniques. Imagine starting 50% a-50% b until the A’s
appear to do better, move to 55-45 ... and so on, there's a precise algorithm. You can drastically reduce the number exposed to an inferior treatment. But clinical trials are usually not done this way.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Sort and Search</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The discussion of Sort-Search tradeoffs was great; it
introduced Big-O notation. Big-O is how
processing costs change with size (n). The example
was a dinner party. You have to clean
your house once regardless of n, so cleaning is “Big-O of 1”. Passing a dish around the table increases
linearly with every additional guest: “Big-O of n”. Each guest arriving hugs all the guests
already there … that’s quadratic time: “Big-O of n(squared).” Exponential time, “(Big-O)(2 raised to n)”
would happen if each guest doubles your work.
“Big-O (n!)” – factorial time is so much worse. That’s like randomly shuffling a deck of cards until they happen
to fall in order. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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So how does Big-O help with sorting?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bubble sort is Big-O of n (squared). Look at every adjacent pair of books in a
bookshelf and switch them if they’re out of order, then shift over and do it again.
Who would do this? A computer would, or
a slow person with bad eyesight. In
practice Insertion Sort, in which you remove all the books and place each on
the shelf correctly, is not much better than bubble sort although prior
knowledge might save a lot of time (M is in the middle, start looking there….).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mergesort is the punchline.
Sort smaller batches then shuffle-sort those into bigger batches, repeat
and wala. But if you are not expecting
to search much, why bother, just use
Bucket Sort: put them into categories and quit.
Save a lot on the sort, pay a
little on the search. “Sorting something
that you will never search is a complete waste; searching something you never
sorted is merely inefficient.” (72) <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Ranking Athletes</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There’s a whole section on competition scoring, like for athletes or sports teams. The problem with Single
Elimination tournaments, where one loss knocks you out, is that while it finds
the best team, “second place is a lie." Round-Robin, where each team plays every other team – Big-O of
n(squared) … so many games required! And so many boring ones. Ladder Tournaments, where each player can challenge the next best is a bubble
sort. The most popular, Bracket
Tournament, divides the field in half at each stage. It’s merge sort. March Madness takes 64 teams to 32, then 16,
then 8, then the “final four” before the determining match. It’s Big-O(n log n). With 64 teams to start it reduces the number
of games needed from 2,016 with Round Robin to 192 games to find the best
team. But it doesn’t find the second
best.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Pecking Order</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Chickens have a pecking order, for real. They use <i>displacement
</i> where one member just knows it’s not
worth trying to compete with anyone except that one directly above or below. So place is relatively easy to establish. If crook-beak
beats bug-eyes who just outpecked you, well you just don’t have to fight
crook-beak – you know you’ll lose.
That’s ordinal ranking. In comes
a newcomer. He’ll have a rough go at
first, finding his place, but then it’ll be tensely peaceful again.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Race vs Fight</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If it’s a race rather than a fight, it’s not ordinal that
matters, it’s cardinal scores and all so much easier. The skier places precisely by racing the
clock in a couple of runs, where the cage fighter has to take on one nasty
opponent after the other. The authors
explain, “Much as we bemoan the daily rat race, the fact that it’s a <i>race </i> rather than a <i>fight </i> is a key part of what
sets us apart from the monkeys, the chickens – and for that matter, the rats.”
P 83<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Caching </b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are many ways to purge memory, the crudest maybe is Random
Eviction. Maybe someone with dementia suffers this. Another method is First-in-First-Out,
the oldest things must go. Clairvoyance – using future information -- is best if you can get it, and there’s an formula for
that too: Belady’s Algorithm. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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When it all shakes out there are times to use each of these
but generally speaking the<i> last</i> thing
we can expect to need is the thing we used the<i> longest</i> time ago. That’s Last
Recently Used. So if you always put your
books back on the left side of the shelf, if you return your file folders to
the front of the drawer, if you hang your used shirts to one side of the rack …
that’s not a bad idea. So those papers on
top of your paper piles are probably the ones you will want to grab. Sweet! It's that filling drawer on its side. With this line of reasoning, throwing your clothes on the floor actually makes some
sense. I'll tell my son. If you think about it, the brain
works this way, pretty much. Those
things in the more distant past, what we haven't thought of for a long time are the ones we are likely to forget -- <i>and</i> are
the ones we can most afford to lose. Thank
you natural selection.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Sequence</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then there is the order in which we should actually do
things we need to do. Getting Things
Done, the organizational system which I try to use, recommends doing the quick
things immediately. Others will tell you
to do the hardest things first, or the fun things first, or the oldest or most
recent things first. <br />
<br />
Gantt charts help
optimize order of operation. For
example, when you have many loads of laundry that need washing and drying find
the one with the shortest cycle. If it’s the washer do that load first,
if it’s the drier do it last, repeat for all loads. You maximize the time both washer and drier
are running, and minimize your time at the laundromat. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you have a lot of tasks with deadlines you can follow an
algorithm for “minimizing maximum lateness” by prioritizing those with the
Earliest Due Date. First things
first. But if you want to minimize the
sum of lateness, use Shortest Processing Time (always do the quickest task
first). If you can weight each task by
importance just multiply that weight by the time required. “Only prioritize a task that takes twice as
long if it’s twice as important.” (111)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some tasks can be given an “allow priority,” that is, they aren't high priority in planning but kick in over another when needed. We do this intuitively with bathroom breaks; when
you need one that task trumps most others. If you don’t plan this allowance into a project design
it could spell trouble as the authors point out happened on Mars Pathfinder in
1997 when it thrashed just after landing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Thrashing</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thrashing is when a system is running at full bore and
accomplishing nothing. In this case some
tasks should simply be interruptible.
Switching tasks (<i>context switching</i>) comes with a cost. Sometimes you can reduce the cost of context
switching by clustering or coalescing tasks – the author suggests scheduling a
“bill paying day” when you get out your checkbook ... once. The GTD system helps with this by coalescing
actionables into folders so you can tackle related projects together. The U.S. mail coalesces correspondence for us. Office hours coalesce interruptions. Answering machines do too. It’s interesting to look at our daily
activities this way.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Bayesian Probabilities</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The book goes over Bayes" Rule which combines probabilities
to overcome intuitive traps explaining things.
You basically use known probabilities for hypothetical pasts, figure the
chance they would deliver the known outcome, and work backward to find the most
probable cause. The example given was a random pull from a bag of coins containing 9
fair coins and 1 two headed coin. It
flips heads. How likely is it to be one
of the fair coins? Calculate the chance
of a fair coin being drawn and the chance of it flipping heads that’s 90% X
50% -- and compare it to the chance of
the trick coin drawn and flipping heads (10% X 100%) That’s 45 / 10 or 4.5
times more likely to be a fair coin.
Simple when you think about it, but hard to intuit.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Laplace took it further.
His law predicts that if you try a lottery only once and win, an
estimate of 2/3 for the portion of winning tickets is better than 100% or 50:50. It’s always the number of wins +1 divided by
the number of attempts +2. So if the bus was late 3 out of 12 times the chance
of it being late today is 4/14 or 28.6% . This one I didn’t get, but I suppose that if
68 of the other 70 insights in the book did make sense – that would be 69/72 or
96% chance this one should too? It’s on
page 131<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Longevity</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s a real cool simple tool. If you want to predict how much longer something
you see will last and you don’t have anything to compare it to, find out how
long it’s been around and guess that. You
simply assume that the timing of your sample is random, so if it’s
normally distributed the best guess for current moment is smack in the
middle, top of the bell curve That’s the Copernican Principle,
good when you know nothing. So how long
will North Korea last? Let’s see…
2017-1948 is 69. So … 2086. Oh my.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If your phenomenon has a known distribution you can do
better with the Multiplicative Rule .
The example given was movie gross receipts. Most movies make little or nothing and some
are blockbusters. This is a power law
distribution. There is plenty of past
data and the calculated multiplier that fits this particular distribution is 1.4 so if
you hear a movie made $10,000 so far … best guess is a total of $14,000. A movie grossed $6m? Probably it will quit at 8.4.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s the difference between normal distribution which call for the Average Rule, and power law distributionss that use Multiplicative Rule:
“Something normally distributed that’s gone on seemingly too long is bound to
end shortly; but the longer something in a power-law distribution has gone on
the <i>longer </i> you can
expect it to keep going.” (140) The
third method is the Additive Rule, good for things that are “memoryless,” that
is, you have priors but they don’t follow a regular pattern; these are things
with a wing-shaped Erlang distribution.
Then predict a constant amount of time.
Like for a slot machine, when is it going to pay off next? After every pull, win or lose, the prediction
is n more pulls.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Poor Priors</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The authors noted that humans do pretty well using these
methods, but we inform our own priors (normal, power law, Erlang) by
experiencing life ... and in modern times our information is heavily skewed. We’re a more likely to hear about the guy
who was killed than about those who had a normal day. If we use our priors without understanding
our information bias we’re likely to make stupid predictions. It’s why people are afraid of flying but not
driving on the freeway: a plane crash is big news.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remember the marshmallow challenge, where kids with the
willpower to wait 10 minutes doubled up, and lo, those showing such willpower did
better in life? The book offers an interesting
twist. When the experiment was preceded by an adult promising
cool art supplies to the kids in the waiting room -- then some kids got the supplies
and some a delay and lame excuse. The
stymied kids were more likely to eat the marshmallow, giving up after a short effort. It seems their priors suggested
these adults were not to be trusted … might as well eat this one sweet while you
can. The authors speculate that the differences between the successful kids and less successful ones in the classic study may
not be just a lack of willpower, but “it could be a result of believing that
adults are not dependable: that they can’t be trusted to keep their word.” Bad priors.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Overfitting</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The discussion on <i>overfitting</i> was another lesson on how too
much weight on prior data can go wrong.
The tendency of course is to pile on the independent variables,
expecting a more predictive model if you collect more background information. But imbedded in that assumption is that each
of those things is actually a good predictor of what you’re really trying to
measure! For example, taste is
overfitted by evolution, to crave fat and sugar with no end. That used to help us but today … another bad
prior.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Occam’s Razor suggests the simplest hypothesis is probably
the best. If you want to simplify your
model, try adding a “complexity penalty” to knock out some superfluous
factors. Nature does it: “The burden of
metabolism … acts as a brake on the complexity of organisms, introducing a
caloric penalty for overly elaborate machinery.” (161) And in a similar way the slow pace of
evolution prevents organisms from overfitting their environment – that’s makes
them more resilient. Thanks again.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Optimization</b></div>
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There is a large section on optimization. This covers the problem of local maximums,
where the only way to improve in the long run requires a period of getting worse. A step down is required before larger steps up. You can get around this with randomized “jitters,”
progressively removing random influence: “simulated annealing,” and relaxation
of constraints at least early in the process.
Lagrangian Relaxation is clever – it simply moves constraints over to
the cost structure. You can’t steal cars to go to work! Lagrange would respond: “actually I can, but let's consider the costs.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Handshakes</b></div>
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In a section on communication the authors point out how, by signaling
receipt, the receiver influences the message.
This might be by nods or facial expressions, or “oh,” “ha,” “hmm..” – in
other words: “message received!” Bad
listeners actually ruin the message because the sender doesn’t know how to
proceed -- what was heard, what was not, should she speed up, slow down, wrap it up, repeat something? This sorry of feedback is what computers do,
every packed or chunk is sent, acknowledged, and the acknowledgement is
acknowledged. Constant handshakes, and that way a missed message is simply resent. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Exponential Backoff</b></div>
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But what if there is a breakdown in communication – what can
be done about it. The answer is
brilliant: Exponential Backoff. Each
time there is a failure double the delay sending it again. The example was in dating or friendship: Oh,
so she didn’t return your text? Wait a
day, send another. No response? Wait 2, then 4 then 8 … Very soon you’re almost
out of touch, gracefully, but not completely. This is apparently how failed password attempts work, to increase security.
It’s like a squirrel, approaching you for that peanut. Additive Increase, Multipilicative Decrease.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Tail Drop</b></div>
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Here’s a nice one: Tail Drop. When we just had house phones people calling
when we were out had to call back. They
couldn’t leave a message. The early answering machines took messages (buffers)
but with limited capacity. I remember "Mailbox Full" But there's no Tail Drop with email, it's an infinite buffer. Everybody expects an answer.
Texts keep coming and the buffer never fills. “We used to <i>reject </i>. Now we <i>defer.” </i>(226) What have we done?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Auctions</b></div>
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The authors write about auctions “Sealed-Bid First-Price,”
“Dutch Auction (descending),” English Auction (ascending)” and the brilliant
“Vickrey Auction” which is a sealed bid but the winner plays the second highest price, not
the highest. Unlike the others, when you
crunch the numbers, “in the Vickrey auction, honest is literally the best
policy.” Ebay uses Vickrey, I’ve always
thought it was brilliant.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, I’ve combed through the book for many of my own highlights for my own purposes, but I recommend you buy a copy, there's so much more. It’s superbly written, packed with insight,
and easy relate to. <o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-341774349793548212017-04-16T12:39:00.002-07:002018-04-23T10:39:24.726-07:00On Stoicism: A Guide to the Good Life<div class="MsoNormal">
Those who know me might understand why so much time has
passed since my last blog, it’s been a tough year! Through it one pleasure (of many) I could count on is my bicycle commute which virtually guaranteed an hour of audio-book reading five days a
week. I'd seen Stoicism mentioned in Ryan Holiday’s <u>Ego is the Enemy</u> and <u>The Obstacle is the
Way</u> so I searched for a book on this philosophy. </div>
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Good books on Stoicism are
hard to find! Finally I stumbled
across <u>A Guide to the Good Life</u> by William B. Irvine. I liked it so much that I listen to it twice through and then<o:p></o:p><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="216" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KyLsjPmKUHc/Wt4Zj9CT_wI/AAAAAAAABcA/2VXrnHDbC9otB6Mtr47JpmByHTRZfsc0ACLcBGAs/s1600/Capture.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Good-Life-Ancient-Stoic/dp/0195374614/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524505011&sr=8-1&keywords=guide+to+the+good+life&dpID=41UJYnqgwjL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch">Buy on Amazon</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
bought a copy to mark up. This entry is mainly a summary of that book,
of that philosophy, as explained by the author.</div>
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Stoicism fell from the public eye when philosophers began
emphasizing theory at the expense of lifestyle wisdom -- Socrates had taught
both. Modern psychology’s emphasis on
exploring all emotions runs counter to some of the Stoic methods, and the term “stoic” itself has taken
on a meaning that is less than attractive.
Besides, people today tend to think they don’t need a life goal (and by
default become what Irvine calls “enlightened hedonists:” basically, sophisticated pleasure-seekers).</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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The core idea of Stoicism is summarized by Irvine this way “Stoicism
… is a cure for a disease. The disease in question is the anxiety, grief, fear
and various other emotions that plague humans and prevent them from
experiencing a joyful existence." (p 238) Thankfully, unlike the original Stoic philosophers Irvine
doesn’t refer to Zeus to explain how these emotions were embedded in
us. He looks no farther than evolution which, through natural selection, built emotions into our psyche for the purpose of survival and
reproduction. Evolutionary psychology is fascinating. But the world has changed and the impulses that once helped don’t serve us well
anymore. Fortunately, one of the tools evolution has given us is rationality and we can hijack that to reset our own life goal. Our life goal doesn't have to be reproduction. Stoics would recommend <i>tranquility</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tranquility is not the only goal possible, to be sure. Hedonists seek to maximize pleasure and this is probably the default goal of most everyone. We're pleasure seekers because in geologic time the things that gave us pleasure steered us in ways that increased survival and procreation.
“Enlightened hedonism” today uses rationality to weigh long and short term
pleasures and costs but in the end, he who has had the most pleasure wins. The Cynics’ goal was virtue, harmony
with nature, and to reach this they advocated rejection of all conventional desire. Stoicism is in between: not ascetic, not
hedonistic. The stoic's goal is virtue and tranquility. Tranquility is a goal of Buddhism and Epicurianism too but they go about it in a different way. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Unlike Cynics who strive to eliminate desire the Stoics try to minimizing
negative emotions and to live a 'virtuous' life. Virtue and tranquility
go hand in hand -- both rely on rational thought. In this book Irvine focuses on tranquility and explains
how Stoics learned to increase it. Maybe he'll write another on virtue. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The Roman Stoics Irvine highlights are Seneca, Rufus, Epictetus,
and Marcus Aurelius who was the Roman Emperor from 161
to 180. Each of these contributed
something to the philosophy and most of them were exiled. Some were killed for
being philosophers. According to Irvine Descartes was a
Stoic, so was Henry David Thoreau, but for the most part the philosophy waned as philosophers turned to theory, the public felt no need for a philosophy of life, psychologists
emphasized methods that ran counter to Stoic ones, and religions pressed competing
ideas too. But here are some highlights
of the book. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>NEGATIVE VISUALIZATION</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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This is one of the core techniques. We are set up
psychologically to swing from desire to desire, satisfying one, forming the
next, and so on. Each time we attain a
desired object we are rewarded but the psychological surge soon flattens and we pursue the next desire. For example, Irvine observed, people often go to the mall not because they
need something but in hopes to stimulate a desire which they can satisfy... for that dopamine boost. We are insatiable; the Stoics suggest that instead of trying to satisfy desires endlessly we would do better to manage them. And confounding things more is what behavioral economists call <i>hedonic adaptation: </i>We place more value
on things once we own them. If you find
$500 that’s nice, but if you lose $500 that’s <i>very</i> bad. To use a recent example, if you think you
won the Academy Award for Best Picture 2016 and then learn it was just a mistake you’re absolutely worse for the experience. <br />
<br />
We are driven to acquire, we take our acquisitions for
granted, and when we lose them it is an outsized blow.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So what do Stoics do about this? One important exercise is <i>negative visualization, </i>that is, periodically imagining losing something valuable before it happens. It’s not actually <i>worrying, </i>it’s contemplation.
Doing this can inoculate ourselves so when the pet (or child!) does die or the
teapot breaks … well we sort of knew it might happen .. and that hurts less. We’ve reduced the negative impact of
grief. If you consider for just a moment that your daughter might die that makes actually being with her so much sweeter and every moment more meaningful. If she were to actually die and you had appreciated her life fully you may suffer less grief - - and less regret too. The Stoic way provides more joy while she’s alive and - - if it comes to it - - less pain when she's gone. All from negative visualization<o:p></o:p></div>
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Stoics also recommend what Irvine calls <i>voluntary discomfort</i>: sometimes taking on a loss or suffering
purposefully -- not in a masochistic way but an instructive one. Reading this I was reminded of when I told my
dentist before what was basically a root canal that I would like to do it
without anesthetic. I wanted to experience
extreme pain without actually suffering harm. Doing this has several benefits: it inoculates
one against the full shock when actual hardship occurs, it widens one’s zone of
comfort, it helps one appreciate what we do have, and we gain confidence going forward that we
can bear what life might deliver.
The flipside, also recommended, is, mindfully abstaining from pleasurable
things now and then. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There are other tools related to negative visualization... like imagining that the bad things that happen to other people have happened to
you, or trying to see bad things that happen in a more cosmic perspective. In the universe, how bad is it really that I just suffered, <fill in the blank>? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>FATE</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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The serenity prayer suggests we accept the things we can’t
change, change the things we can, and have the wisdom to know the difference. I’ve heard that all my life, but it was a bit
eye opening to look just a little deeper. Nothing in the past can be changed, it’s
over. Then what is the use of all regret, it’s just a useless negative emotion! A lot of anger goes out the window too. We can still learn from the past, but that certainly takes a lot of sting out of it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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More strangely, though, is that we can’t actually change the
present either – the one we live in.
As soon we take an action that present has past. Therefore, if we follow this line of
reasoning, there is no anxiety or unhappiness about the way things <i>are,</i> in an immediate sense. That’s very calming; we really can't entertain thoughts on how things <i>right
now</i> could be better.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And then there are those things over which we have <i>some </i>but not complete control -- Irvine's simple example is
a tennis match. As much as you’ve
practiced, as well as you play (both are things you can control) … you don’t
control the skill of your opponent and therefore you can’t
control the outcome of the game. If you set a goal of winning the game and you lose it you will be disappointed. Even if you win you likely will have suffered anxiety along the way. Stoics recommend
not trying to win the game, but rather set an <i>internal goal</i> … “playing your best.” That goal you can control completely. You can lose the match and still feel satisfied and accomplished if you've played your best... and you have no less chance of actually winning. Opponents become teammates. With that internal focus, which you can control, you're likely to play better and may well succeed <i>and </i>win.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>INSULTS AND OTHERS’ OPINIONS</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Other lessons relate to what we think of others and what
they think of us. Insults are
interesting in this regard. They’re not
really injurious in themselves, like a punch in the face would be. But they hurt only because of what we make of
them. The advice? It’s very clever.<o:p></o:p></div>
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First, consider the source; if it’s someone whose opinions
you don’t respect, their insult can be dismissed out of hand. Irvine suggests considering it like a dog snarling at you – you might make a mental note of it but you
don’t go through your day worrying about the fact that the dog doesn’t like you! But, if it’s someone you respect or
someone who is well-informed about the topic at hand, look straight past the insult - - perhaps you’ve found a
teacher. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Second, if the insult is true and obvious, then it’s just
a statement of fact. I’m bald … ok, so? But if it’s not true perhaps it should be
corrected, like a parent correcting a child's bad behavior. It can
be done kindly.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Third, if you choose to respond, the best way is often with
humor because that can erase the intended sting.
Self-deprecating humor is best as it can send an ironic message of
confidence when the insulter intended the exact opposite effect. If the quick wit is not not at hand, don’t respond at all. Either way you signal your disregard for the person's opinion rather than take them on. I like that. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>GRIEF</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Already we know that negative visualization can diminish grief because you’ve imagined the loss. But one can also practice <i>retrospective
negative visualization</i>, that is, imagine not having ever had the thing which you've lost. In essence, “be happy with
what you <i>have</i> had.”<br />
<br />
If grieving the
death of a loved one you also might do well to wonder how much pain the person would have wanted you to suffer. When
someone else is grieving, the Stoic advice as expressed by Irvine was don’t catch
the grief deeply, but you might <i>feign</i> grief
if it makes them feel better. Personally,
I think actually sharing the grief, even if briefly, could be a good thing -- also a form of voluntary discomfort. </div>
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In any case, although it's a negative emotion they say the griever should grieve. Seneca wrote to a friend “Let your tears flow but let them also cease, let deepest sighs be
drawn from your breast, but let them also find an end.” (p 154) Here the Stoic advice runs against popular
grief therapy which often advises lingering much longer in grief, fully embracing it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>ANGER</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Anger is not only “anti-joy” but also is also irrational. “Reason,” Seneca advises, “will never enlist
the aid of reckless unbridled impulses over which it has no authority.” (p
160) Yet feigning anger can serve a purpose -- signaling that you are likely to act irrationally (and therefore are
unpredictable). But actually abandoning reason by way of anger is not recommended by Stoics. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So how do you reduce anger?
Resist thinking the worst of people, don’t get so comfortable that you’re
easily angered, and notice how much more the anger causes your own suffering than the trigger for the anger itself did. With
anger we punish ourselves. Attempting to view the offense from a more cosmic perspective can diminish its effect. And if you can, turn anger upside down by finding humor. Laugh.<br />
<br />
And apologize later … that matters.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>FAME AND FORTUNE</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Fame should be avoided -- we basically should be indifferent to social
status, they say. Irvine paraphrased Epictetus: “If we make it our
goal to please others, we will no longer be free to please ourselves.” Just as insults and criticism don’t have to infect us with negative emotion, we should become impervious to praise and
compliments too. It’s a slippery slope, relying on others in this way; better to set those internal goals.<br />
<br />
Interestingly,
luxury is a bit different (although various Stoics apparently disagreed on how
much one should enjoy it). Basically, wealth can be a fine thing as
long as you control it, and not it you. Its dangers include 1. not
being prepared to lose it and 2. the loss of one's ability to enjoy simpler
things. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It makes sense that Stoics are often wealthy. They set internal goals that can result in
external successes just the same, and they are happy with a simple lifestyle. They may well earn an excellent wage and not spend nearly as much as others.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>EXILE, OLD AGE, AND DEATH</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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An interesting short chapter dealt with exile -- probably
because most of the Stoics mentioned were exiled, sometimes repeatedly. From the unflappable Stoic perspective exile
is just a change of place. Irvine brought
this home by comparing exile to being “banished” to a nursing home, a fate many
do still suffer today. He explains,
using Stoic principles, how one near the end of life might suffer fewer and less intense negative
emotions and still find joy, if they know how.<o:p></o:p></div>
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---------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></div>
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The book is nicely written, it appears to be an excellent synthesis of the original Stoic literature with modern applications. It's nicely indexed and well referenced and the audio edition is well read. <br />
<br />
Since writing this summary I've read a translation of Marcus Aurelius - - The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of the Meditations. I think Irvine did well - - his book was better IMO! Most of his observations. I think, were drawn from Seneca - - I haven't read Seneca yet but will. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-76862412585155786102016-02-04T15:23:00.005-08:002017-04-15T10:50:56.547-07:00On Getting Organized<div>
I'll start this personal essay by admitting that I'm just not very well organized by nature. I'm a geographer; I specialize in place and location so you'd think I'd have some pretty good organizational skills at least at navigation. And I do have a very strong mental compass, but unfortunately it's poorly calibrated. I'm sure we're traveling west but we're going south. I'm certain we should turn left -- but no, it's right. I've written about this before -- <a href="http://www.everythingequalseverything.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-great-humiliation.html"><b><i>my great humiliation</i></b></a> -- and that kind of thing happens too often. I also lose my keys, forget people's names and sometimes go downstairs to get something just to wonder what it was. I once even thought someone had stolen our car, because our parking place was empty as we drove past ... in our car. "Where's the Volvo!!!?" is now a family joke. But I do keep trying. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3-colPkkbh0/VrQqxGf7F_I/AAAAAAAAAno/jKZzMn-zM30/s1600/organizedmind.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3-colPkkbh0/VrQqxGf7F_I/AAAAAAAAAno/jKZzMn-zM30/s200/organizedmind.JPG" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Organized-Mind-Thinking-Straight-Information/dp/0147516315/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454682049&sr=1-1&keywords=the+organized+mind"><i>Link Here</i></a></td></tr>
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For example I read book recently called <u>The Organized Mind</u>; Very interesting NYT bestseller, with a lot of nice insights. I started it in a coffee shop and read a few chapters before I realized I'd left my phone in the washroom. So that's me.<br />
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I've listen to several audio courses on my half hour bike commute and one was on memory. There are different kinds of memory, I learned, and they use different parts of the brain. One type is echo memory, like the vague recollection that someone has asked you where their book is. "huh? what? oh it's in the living room." Vision also echoes for a second or two -- that helps our brain create fluid surroundings from a series of visual snapshots.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8ESKNJzbR74/VrNdia-oV7I/AAAAAAAAAls/xlg1x9MO6qg/s1600/memory.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8ESKNJzbR74/VrNdia-oV7I/AAAAAAAAAls/xlg1x9MO6qg/s1600/memory.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thegreatcourses.com/digital-library/course/view/id/963/format/0/"><i>Link Here</i></a></td></tr>
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Then there is procedural memory. This is the kind that lets children pick up the rules of language, this is what we often use to drive. It's muscle memory, learning by doing. Flashbulb memories are the kind that are suddenly stamped in your mind --- the car accident, the breathtaking view, the rude remark, the epiphany -- that sort of thing.<br />
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Then there's episodic memory, this is "memory" in everyday language. What did you have for breakfast, what did Ms. X say today, where did you set your binoculars, and so on. When people age, I learned, they often lose their episodic memory before the procedural memory goes. They won't remember what they had for lunch but they can still play the violin. And though our memory parts work independently they collaborate to form a conceivable story line. If there's a gap or contradiction, they make things up. According to Dan Kahneman (I'm paraphrasing), the mind is a machine designed to find shortcuts. Kahneman and Tversky were the fathers of Behavioral Economics. He wrote <a href="http://everythingequalseverything.blogspot.com/2012/05/thinking-fast-and-slow-review.html"><i><b>Thinking Fast and Slow</b></i></a>.<br />
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So what does this have to do with organization? We can use the different parts of memory to our advantage. For example, there's a trick called "method of loci," which has been around for a couple thousand years, in which you visually attach things you want to remember to a fixed procedural sequence. That sequence might be a familiar routine 1) waken 2) brush teeth 3) dress, 4) feed cats, 5) make coffee, etc. Each of these conjures up a different physical location.<br />
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Let's use it. To remember five grocery items, go through the rooms. Imagine being awakened with a splash of milk to the face, brushing your teeth with celery, finding a bucket of ground beef in your closet, instead of a cat eating at the bowl, it's a big loaf of bread on legs. Stir your hot coffee with a cheese stick and see it soften and melt. The sequence can go on and on ... eat breakfast, get coat, go to garage, get in car ... each location provides a "hook" for a robust visual memory.<br />
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It was another course, <u><a href="http://everythingequalseverything.blogspot.com/2014/12/mental-math.html"><b><i>mental math</i></b></a></u>, where I learned about the "major system" for remembering numbers. The main idea is that words are more meaningful than digits, so you turn the numbers into sounds. 0 =s, 1=t/d, 2=n, 3, m, 4=r, 5=l, 6=g/ch/sh, 7=k, 8=f/v, 9=p/b, and then turn the sounds into words. The phone number: 367-8212 becomes "magic fountain.". People who are good at this memorize a noun and verb for every two digit number, maybe three. 01=seat/sit 58=leaf/love 74=car/cure.. Then you can put together sentences quickly. I found a few Android apps for this.<br />
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The best memory hack was this, however: Half of remembering is learning it in the first place. If you want to know where your keys are, remember to always put them in the bowl. A place for everything, and everything in its place. The same principle -- half of remembering is learning -- works in the abstract too. Let's take the example of names. Imagine a group of strangers meeting, six people in all, you're one. Each shares their name once -- that's five short moments, just at the same instant you may be trying to make a good first impression. "Hi I'm Justin Devinberg." ... Whaaa? Everyone might as well throw their business cards in the air. But you can prepare in advance to catch them. "I'm Eileen Goodwin" [OK... she leans to one side because of a short leg, and that's good, because it's a circular race and she'll win.] There, but that took a few seconds. If you need more time, you can buy it. When I tell someone my name and they ask me "Is that Eric with a c or a k?" I can pretty much guess I am being processed. </div>
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But there's so much more to organization than remembering things, names, and numbers. I picked up a new and popular book called <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering-Organizing/dp/1607747308/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454595849&sr=1-1&keywords=the+life+changing+magic+of+tidying+up">The Life -Changing Magic of Tidying Up</a>,</b> by Marie Kondo, a Japanese woman with a bad case of OCD. She talks about hurrying home from school as a girn to tidy up her siblings' closet. She's horrified by soap residue on a shower rack. She recommends touching your stored clothes now and then to reassure them that you care.<br />
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But she also has some good ideas, one is folding all your clothes in rectangles and filing them in <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gJY5sS-A56c/VrOKd6pI2II/AAAAAAAAAnA/VAUiBODTk5U/s1600/drawers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gJY5sS-A56c/VrOKd6pI2II/AAAAAAAAAnA/VAUiBODTk5U/s1600/drawers.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My actual drawers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
drawers, but upright, like books. I've done it, even to socks, sweaters and underwear. You can see everything you have when they're not piled up and flopping around; and it's very democratic -- every item has an equal voice. And there is no "off season" box in the basement because there's more room. This is because you apply another critical principle: if it doesn't bring you joy, get rid of it. She recommends applying this to clothes, books, papers, and mementos -- in that order. She also talks about jewelry and kitchens, never mentions workrooms, tools, or digital files, but the principles are easy to transfer.<br />
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It was surprisingly easy to go through my stuff. I found I had been wearing some clothes I don't like just to save wear and tear on those I do like. Gone. I'd been keeping some mementos that had lost their meaning or even brought me pain, not joy. Gone. My book collection contained whole sections I was done with, and which had no sentimental value. Gone. Bag it up, move it out, but don't let anyone pick through it first, Kondo says, because they might want you to keep something for <i>their own </i>sentimental reasons, or because they just don't understand what's going on: you're getting orkondoganized.<br />
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Try this one: look at your stuff -- if you found that in the alley, would you bring it in? If not, maybe it belongs in the alley. And that's not even Kondo; I came up with that one myself, years ago.</div>
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Technology is so useful for organizing. One tool I've adopted is Microsoft Access, although others would do as well. This is a "relational" database with which you can take any number of tables of information and link them together with a shared unique field which is simply an ID for that row of information. That's why, say, student ID, neighborhood name, Census tract number, etc are so useful; they can reach out and shake hands with any other table containing that same information. And if Joe can shake with Sally who can shake with Sue, then Joe can talk with Sue as well. I have linked tables for faculty, students, courses, and schedules ... and with a button now I can generate reports: when a particular class was last taught and by whom and what was the enrollment, with percent attending on a sample day and a summary of student course evaluations ... bam. What different courses did a particular faculty member ever teach, and its average enrollments when taught daytime, or night ... bam. Checkbox the courses a new advisee might find most interesting and print out their description, frequency and usual term its offered ... bam. How well does this draft schedule satisfy every major -- daytime/nighttime students, graduate and undergraduate? ... bam. What are the enrollment trends in the last 10 years, for all courses combined serving one major concentration? ... bam.</div>
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Some databases just don't lend themselves to handshakes -- they have no linking field. But you might still be able to map them if you have street address, zip code, an intersection, latitude/longitude, police beat, City ward, or any other geospatial identifier. And if you can map it, you can use location itself as the linking field -- it can shake hands with that. So all the data in a table that contains street address can now pour over into the table that contains police beat. You can calculate new information too: distance from, number within, area, length, buffer zones, average values of something in x for all the x's inside each area of y. And this is the easy stuff. GIS is the sandbox where databases that didn't know each other, can meet and play. </div>
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There is nothing like a map to organize information than includes some sort of spatial marker. Like some of these I've linked below. I basically make maps all the time. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tLruhWWALl4/VrNbFYqcJOI/AAAAAAAAAk4/3QuWd__b6H8/s1600/org1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tLruhWWALl4/VrNbFYqcJOI/AAAAAAAAAk4/3QuWd__b6H8/s200/org1a.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u><a href="http://www.spicynodes.org/a/6a495ba4689c359eadb7804afc966e98">Interactive Org Chart, try it!</a></u></i></b></td></tr>
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My maps have evolved such that I now also make flow diagrams and charts, which in a sense are maps in a different dimension. They are linked in the appendix. One is a spiral showing five years of work that goes into one university budget. There's one that identifies amazing complexities in the hiring process for part time faculty members. There's is a circular calendar showing a full cycle<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X-ogfbWwWKY/VrNbFXAvVyI/AAAAAAAAAk8/I5HZq8PNKfs/s1600/org2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X-ogfbWwWKY/VrNbFXAvVyI/AAAAAAAAAk8/I5HZq8PNKfs/s200/org2a.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><u><i><b><a href="http://www.spicynodes.org/a/aa7b78324fcb44fc3f9a56ad09525116">Student view of college</a></b></i></u></td></tr>
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of department chair duties. In another, I offer an alternate policy on the making of policies, elsewhere I suggest a more efficient way to update course schedules, and here's two of my favorites: top left #1: an interactive full-university organization chart. Rather than the traditional top-down org chart, with one person at the top of a pyramid, this one puts each employee into center stage, surrounding them with their supervisors and direct reports. Cooler still, I think is #2 to the right: an organization chart from the student's perspective: there's<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hgji_YKE1ic/VrNmh6y-f1I/AAAAAAAAAmU/8Bhii6yZm_Y/s1600/constitutionsmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hgji_YKE1ic/VrNmh6y-f1I/AAAAAAAAAmU/8Bhii6yZm_Y/s200/constitutionsmall.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><i><b><u><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4-j7Yhwm50">Constitution Explained (a video)</a></u></b></i><br />
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academics, support services, extracurricular activities, etc. Step in and follow your interests. Both of these are prototypes, because they were well ahead of their time -- but that's another story.<br />
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Maybe my best traditional flow diagram is of the Faculty Constitution (explained in a video to the left); it's an unreadable, convoluted set of articles, that parse out like this. And a close read suggests, to me at least, ways to improve it.<br />
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And here below are some of those other graphics I've mentioned.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J020gTQuYbQ/VrNbNCpeJhI/AAAAAAAAAlg/AJoffC7SMLE/s1600/chaircalendarsmall2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J020gTQuYbQ/VrNbNCpeJhI/AAAAAAAAAlg/AJoffC7SMLE/s1600/chaircalendarsmall2.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><b><i><u><a href="https://sites.google.com/a/neiu.edu/eh-supporting-material/home/Chair_Calendar_Howenstine.jpg?attredirects=0">Annual Chairs Calendar</a></u></i></b><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-71AKcV-kHAc/VrNbFsG4mYI/AAAAAAAAAlg/2pJoY5Dyzk4/s1600/roomsmall.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-71AKcV-kHAc/VrNbFsG4mYI/AAAAAAAAAlg/2pJoY5Dyzk4/s1600/roomsmall.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><b><i><u><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6U71tR7guTaOGRReTk1eWFkclE/view?usp=sharing">Science Building Room Use</a></u></i></b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n3coO0L3ecU/VrNbF1iBSeI/AAAAAAAAAlg/rKoyXGks8LU/s1600/transportationsmall.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n3coO0L3ecU/VrNbF1iBSeI/AAAAAAAAAlg/rKoyXGks8LU/s1600/transportationsmall.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><u><i><b><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6U71tR7guTaOUhsb2swNlJxa3c/view?usp=sharing">Non-Auto Travel to Campus</a></b></i></u><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3DIdh7et2RQ/VrNbFIuAJKI/AAAAAAAAAlg/A4Dz9dKTALU/s1600/catalogrevisionsmall.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3DIdh7et2RQ/VrNbFIuAJKI/AAAAAAAAAlg/A4Dz9dKTALU/s1600/catalogrevisionsmall.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><b><i><u><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6U71tR7guTaSmZlSEt5Sk1CblU/view?usp=sharing">Catalog Revisions</a></u></i></b><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3DIdh7et2RQ/VrNbFIuAJKI/AAAAAAAAAlg/A4Dz9dKTALU/s1600/catalogrevisionsmall.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zjVDI5TEsBA/VrNbNO8o90I/AAAAAAAAAlg/lZ5ymrKvHh8/s1600/policysmall.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><b><i><u><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a8nqMK2gp1s/VrOB1O7feKI/AAAAAAAAAms/29ByRsVwehw/h120/policysarger.JPG">Policy on Policy Proposal</a></u></i></b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UX7gjmiwZJ8/VrNbFPTQbaI/AAAAAAAAAlg/VMH9ChqSq4w/s1600/adjunctssmall.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UX7gjmiwZJ8/VrNbFPTQbaI/AAAAAAAAAlg/VMH9ChqSq4w/s1600/adjunctssmall.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><b><i><u><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6U71tR7guTaV0ZPWFFac0dTenc/view?usp=sharing">Odd hiring process</a></u></i></b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6U71tR7guTackRRNGlQMFdhdk0/view?usp=sharing"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vUZuYtxsKQ8/VrNbF3f7kYI/AAAAAAAAAlg/C71H6WzxoaE/s1600/tuitionsmall.JPG" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><b><i><u><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6U71tR7guTackRRNGlQMFdhdk0/view?usp=sharing">Comparison of Tuition Costs</a></u></i></b></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oxpqzDbbn4M/VrNkS6ZawXI/AAAAAAAAAmE/h1_0yJjOvyw/s200/foster_closedsmall.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><b><i><u><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ff6ffksGqfA/VrNk6EZx6wI/AAAAAAAAAmI/0WWkw2BgJDg/h120/foster_closed.jpg">Foster Closed Traffic Reroute</a></u></i></b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/a/neiu.edu/eh-supporting-material/home/Budget%20Spiral.jpg?attredirects=0"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E4xibFGgHRg/VrNbNafYtNI/AAAAAAAAAlg/gRqGvG74leI/s1600/budgetsmall.JPG" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><b><i><u><a href="https://sites.google.com/a/neiu.edu/eh-supporting-material/home/Budget%20Spiral.jpg?attredirects=0">5-year Calendar of Univ Budget</a></u></i></b></td></tr>
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This brings me to the best and deepest organizational tip for today. It's an organization</div>
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system called <b><i><u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0142000280/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=3524092888&hvqmt=p&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_3glpqjadrw_p">Getting Things Done</a></u></i></b>, created by David Allen in 2001.<br />
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The basic idea is that you clear your mind by downloading all the "actionables" into an elaborate to-do list, with all then tags and features you could imagine -- and a robust retrieval system that might contain a search tool you've designed like this: "What can I do, when I'm in my office, in 10 minutes time, on project X, sorted by priority." Or "who did I ask an important question more than a week ago, to which they didn't reply, and get me that email please." My GTD copy was old; Allen was talking about physical file folders in desk drawers, rolodexes, etc., but I searched for a 3rd party app and found plenty. I settled on one called <b><i><u><a href="http://www.iqtell.com/">IQtell</a></u></i></b>, by Ran Flam circa 2013 because it's super robust, very customizable, inexpensive and they have great support. <a href="http://www.everythingequalseverything.blogspot.com/2014/03/getting-things-done-works-for-me.html"><b><i>I wrote a blog about it when I started</i></b></a>; I like it even more now. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKoOAFidq3Y" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iy9n6iKn31Y/VrNZq9Ci6MI/AAAAAAAAAkg/fYtlezAXnhg/s1600/gtdvideo.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b><u><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKoOAFidq3Y">YouTube Video, it's 23 minutes long.</a></u></b></i></td></tr>
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Now that I've been using the system for awhile, I gave a little talk on GTD and IQtell to colleagues at the Faculty Research and Creative Activity Symposium this year. Finding my paper sandwiched between "“Extinction by by hybridization? A probable fate for a native cattail species" and "Using worms to understand human neurodegenerative diseases" I personally invited friends who I know are busy and might like the program. And I was right. Mostly they were too busy to attend. But a half dozen sent regrets and for them I packaged up my presentation, added some live parts, and posted it on YouTube. Someone apparently shared it with others who shared it again and this video has had more than 1,000 viewers in just a couple of months. For me, that's viral.<br />
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I had an interesting conversation with my son recently, who is 22 and becoming nuanced in political skills and group dynamics. He's like me in being naturally absent minded -- let's say distracted -- and although the messes he leaves around don't bother me so much, they do bother his mother. We talked about the unspoken communication between people -- things like body position, eye contact, and the welcoming pauses in conversations. They're obvious when you think about them, they are hugely influential, but generally go unnoticed. And while we were talking about this, another obvious/subtle communication occurred to me. When you exit a room, you may leave traces of yourself behind, and these continue to remind people of you. "Let's say you leave a tidy place when you go back to college," I suggested to him. "Every time we walk past your bedroom it'll sing your praises. "He's neat! He's clean! He's organized! He's considerate! He's respectful! He's appreciative! He likes his room! He likes us!" And that will go on for months with no further effort on your part..<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HO9QQvTUveE/VrPcldoVNRI/AAAAAAAAAnU/jy-liNDAWr0/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HO9QQvTUveE/VrPcldoVNRI/AAAAAAAAAnU/jy-liNDAWr0/s400/Capture.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leave this behind and it represents you for months or more.</td></tr>
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So I thought that conversation went well, and I took a look in his room after dropping him off at the train station. What exactly was the room saying about him? I couldn't quite tell; it had it's mouth full, maybe I didn't want to know. So I took this picture and then went all Kondo on it: I cleaned it myself, No big deal... but I've learned that while some people don't care much about a mess, <i>everyone</i> seems to be ok with order.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-90792370009666769152015-05-02T13:08:00.001-07:002016-10-01T09:37:01.643-07:00Lessons from the Faculty Senate<div class="MsoNormal">
I became Chair of the Faculty Senate September 9 2014 just by sitting at the
first meeting of the term. I didn't run, someone
nominated me, I wasn’t asked if I accepted the nomination, I abstained when voting, but here I am anyway. It has been an interesting year; this is the most
diverse group I’ve worked with, and it had a pretty good structure as described in the Constitution, but in practice it was shambles.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Senate consists of 22 people from all colleges and the library and a few others. The President is a non voting member and
attends every meeting. It must be an
uncomfortable seat for her, as someone recently pointed out, because it can be a fiery group, she constantly takes heat, and there's constant pressure to remove her; some members claim other members are intimidated, and that's just hard to verify. But at one point this year we took a ballot vote that would probably have removed her -- and it failed, so apparently it's not such a problem. It seems obvious to me that the Senate benefits from having the President there. After all, all we do is advise her.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When I take on a big job I often try to get my bearings with
a simple principle or two. This is what
I arrived at. 1) enforce rules that exist. For this, I read the Contract carefully, and the Bylaws, and I rely on Robert’s Rules, which are designed exactly for fairness and efficiency 2) repeatedly encourage the Senate to consider that respectful dialogue, openness,
and compromise might lead to more gains for faculty than adversity would do. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Not everyone was on board with these notions. Firstly, Robert’s Rules is foreign -- they're called for in bylaws, but not really used much, as far as I can tell. We generally prefer free-for-all discussions, intimidation, dominating chairs and sometimes dominating members, meetings that are purely informative, micromanagement, or nearly endless argument followed by unilateral decisions – or no decisions at all. Secondly, the Senate has had a longstanding reputation; when I'd asked my first department chair if I should run for Senate in 1990 the word "snakepit" came up. I didn't run.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I've found the senators to be a wonderfully diverse bunch, with different
attitudes and opinions, just as you would hope.
Some are angry, some are quiet, some more thoughtful, others are eagerly
vocal, many are opinionated, some are suspicious, and everyone is smart. Most of them show up for meetings, which we doubled to twice a month. There’s a little bullying that goes on now and then, but not bad -- no fistfights
yet. This mix makes for some pretty good
disagreements. Bob advises (Robert's Rules and I are on first name basis by now), that the chair should facilitate discussion and not jump into it; I've found that this takes
personal vigilance. When necessary, Bob says, I can pass leadership to the vice chair which allows me to express myself as fully and as forcefully as I choose. The first few times I tried this, the vice chair objected -- so I’ve been a
little lenient on myself since, and speak to a motion, a little, now and then.</div>
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So how did we start. Early on, we disbanded the subcommittees that weren't active (all of them). We all came up with seven most-salient issues, formed
committees around them and the committees went to work. After a few misfires -- like the day we passed a motion unanimously, then immediately passed another unanimously to reverse it -- we arrived at a pretty
good system. Committees form
clear motions and vote on them. These
motions are presented to the Senate along with any dissenting
opinion from committee. The Senate
then owns the motion and can fix it, table it, postpone it, kill it, replace it, send it back to committee -- and, if it comes this far, vote on
it. All the little rules necessary for this are followed, in order to
make sure it’s not railroaded through. That structure has worked Ok . After the year, we've done this:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Established secure shared space, online, for document
sharing and collaboration by Senators, and listservs for every subcommittee</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Called a top administrator to the floor to
explain a non-standard hire -- we got some concessions</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Fixed many policies which were ready to be
carved into stone, returned a few for full rewrites</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Repaired some bylaws of a new group so it fit in
well to overall governance structure</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Scoured through the Faculty Constitution, heavy
editing, and highlighted some major proposed changes for special consideration</span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">... after deliberation, sent a referendum to all tenure track faculty members to consider allowing non-tenure track faculty to vote campus-wide and in departments that choose to allow it</span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Prepared major bylaws revisions</span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Planned a retreat in the Fall to improve Senate communication</span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Developed a secure method to conducts voting and referendums on line,
and got the Assembly (tenure track faculty) approval to use it</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Asked for and received a forum in which vice
presidents explained some sticky budgeting issues</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Formally reconsidered the role of the President
on the Senate (status unchanged)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Revised and implemented an evaluation tool for six top administrators, and d</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">istributed the results in a carefully limited way</span></span></li>
</ul>
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Then one day, at the penultimate meeting of the year, with an agenda already packed with time-sensitive
issues, the galley unusually crowded with union members, a sponsoring senator brought to the floor an anonymous note proposing a no-confidence vote for the President and
Provost. This, of course, is a big deal. It's quite unusual for a University to actually conduct such a vote, which can be a signal of great discontent. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Now, our bylaws are not crystal yet, but they seem
to allow new agenda items with a majority vote – and we’ve done it before. This item was approved for including on the agenda. When it came up a half
hour later there was brief discussion, a call for a paper ballot, and after maybe 5 more minutes of discussion someone called the question (previous question would be the formal term), 2/3 wanted to vote and it passed. A No Confidence vote for both president and provost is now going out to the Faculty Assembly, just like that.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I dutifully went back to my office and followed through with Senate decisions of the day: a note to the president asking for a forum on the budget, two referenda on non-tenure faculty role and these two No Confidence
Votes. Because of the new, electronic, voting system the link was in every Assembly member's inbox by
the end of the day.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
…<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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But then I started thinking how quickly that went, and how diametrically opposed to my
own position encouraging cooperation this was, and how I didn't join the discussion by stepping down as chair, how we hadn't discussed the ramifications to the university jusst as things ewere turning sour downstate. Maybe other senators might be having the same misgivings. Such a vote threatened to undo all the work toward collaboration -- shared governance -- we had accomplished over the year -- and I had been under the impression Senators were on board with this optimistic path we'd been on.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Of
course my opinion doesn’t matter anymore than any other voting Senator’s, but then I've been busy facilitating the meeting and as chair and I hadn't shared my own concerns fully. Might others feel, in retrospect, that that motion had gone through a little too quickly? After all, what is the purpose of the vote? What's the hurry? Who is the intended audience? Might a no vote affect state
appropriations, enrollment or alumni donations? All these things, after all, impact the budget, 95% of which is personnel -- and most
of that is faculty. Also, what would we hope to learn that we didn’t just learn from the last administrative survey that just went out (its last question was "has this person been doing a good job"). And might it lessen the value of an NEIU degree, for alumni? </div>
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<br /></div>
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So with the expectation that we might want to think about
this a little more carefully, and the knowledge that the motion did not specify a
time frame for the vote, and the fact that there was no urgency on the matter, and Robert'Smith Rules allowing a body to reconsider a motion already made, I took the bold move and hit the pause button on the
ballot tool I had just activated. I explained my reasoning in
a note to the Senate, and in another to the Assembly. This was not a Stop button, mind you, just pause -- until the Senate met again.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And then the mail came rolling in. <span style="background-color: white;">Some of it was thankful: </span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“I’m glad
you finally came to your senses about this,” </span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“I’m behind you 100%” </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">“</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 107%;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 107%;">I want to commend you for your way of handling this.</span><span style="background-color: white;">” </span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“Good for you!! You have to stand up for the
the fair process.” </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">“</span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 107%;">Decisions have to be
made rationally. I support a truly fair and collaborative process. I'm
behind you 100%.”</span></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
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But most and the loudest and the ones with the long cc’ lists were
more like this</div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"I’m going to do everything I can to marshall opposition to you."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"I've read your statement, and I still condemn you. This action is totally indefensible."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Erick Howenstine's unilateral suspension of the confidence/no-confidence vote for the university president and provost is unacceptable."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"You are not the Faculty Senate; you can't make decisions for the senate as if you were a monarch."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"The honorable action at this point would be to resign as Chair of the senate."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Frankly, this action calls into question your entire decision-making process. As far as I'm concerned you are not fit for a leadership position of any sort at NEIU."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"What were you thinking?!!"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Your action is an egregious abuse of your position. …It is utterly shameful."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"It is outrageous that the Senate has been hijacked by the chair like this."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"There is no precedent or rule to justify the contempt you have shown"</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">[I found out later that the Union President had alerted all the </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">members that </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I had "unilaterally withdrawn" the vote]</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have to be honest, my feelings were a bit hurt; I felt as though Id been struck by lightning while dutifully pushing a wheel barrow of bricks up the hill -- or had I been beaten up by thugs in an alley. The latter seems more like it; it was personal. And eventually, through the day of phone
calls and name calling, I took a long view of the dialogue. I checked especially to see how
Senators had responded; I knew we’d need a majority vote to reconsider (Robert's Rules would not let me independently put this back on the table), and it seemed we were very unlikely to get it. No, the
court of public opinion was pretty loud and clear on this one, so I
hit the Play button on the survey, and the counter started ticking
again. Another no confidence vote in a time of fiscal crisis. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Maybe I am being too dramatic, but the image of a suicide bomber comes to mind.</span><br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the aftermath I learned a few new things about
people. In a situation like this it is easy to parse
out the emails to see what the opinions was – "wait" or "don’t wait." But some people are willing to put themselves way out
there with allegations like this one:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 107%;">“</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 107%;">Erick committed a grave violation of Faculty Senate procedures in a number
of ways (e.g., not following Robert's Rules of Order, violating the NEIU
Faculty Constitution, etc.).” </span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 107%;">I asked this person, "what did I violate," “where?”</span> Of course I knew in advance that the move would be unpopular among some people, I knew my action was against the <i>spirit </i>of the motion, that is, the spirit as defined by those same people. But I know Robert's, and I know the Constitution. If I did violate one of these, or bylaws, I'd like to know so I don’t do it again. Yet I could find nothing. And I only got the non-response: “no, YOU tell ME where it says you CAN!” That doesn't help me, sorry. I know other people too who go around pretending to be lawyers, threatening lawsuits.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm fine with people disagreeing, that's actually very helpful. I'm even able to register the disagreement when it's embedded in personal attacks. And then there are the personal attacks themselves; now a little slap or punch is excusable -- after all in the heat of things people get a little testy, and there was that misinformation that had been circulated. But vitriol is a different matter, and I noticed when bullies have bully-buddy alliances they can ricochet messages between themselves to look like a whole crowd of people; of course they have to copy the world to give that illusion, and sound furious enough that no one who disagrees with them would dare respond. But, that doesn’t mean that their actual opinions are of any more value, or should carry more weight, than any other person. Little bullies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The vicious, public, personal attacks directed at me did hurt at first, but less so when I thought about how easy they are to
write and what kind of person you’d have to be to do that. I even received a letterbomb or two afterward -- after I’d resumed the apparently ill-considered ballot and even had apologized to everyone. Then comes the guy who will come in for a last
stomp <u>after</u> the fight. Might as
well just write <span style="font-size: x-small;">“Hi, I’m a Dick. Signed, ____”</span> because that’s the way I read it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So now there will be a No Confidence Vote at my university,
for the President and Provost. Well, I tried
to get us all to pause and consider the consequences, but no, we didn't seem to want to. It certainly reflects real frustration on campus, no doubt about that. I have to think bullying also may play a role. And a lack of familiarity with good process. Lack of decency Maybe disinterest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, as the vote goes forward, I feel as though something hadn't been said at the right moment: "shouldn't we wait a bit?" Over the year, Robert's Rules has been very helpful and fair, so I looked at the rule book again because something about this didn't seem thoughtful and fair. No, I was reminded, the chair can step down to have normal speaking privileges if he/she passes the chairmanship to the VC until the motion is dealt with. I could have suggested we discuss it more, and postpone the vote. If I'd just done that I'd feel a lot more comfortable, regardless of the outcome. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
POSTSCRIPT: The discussion at the subsequent meeting was very interesting, because some members wanted me impeached but instead, we crafted -- together -- a motion like this: "The results of the No Confidence vote and (previous) administrator evaluation be used primarily internally, to highlight longstanding faculty concerns, in a series of university-wide forums." </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
... passed almost unanimously. I think that'll be a nice outcome after all. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-12293553319079154342015-01-16T14:15:00.000-08:002015-02-20T13:28:41.770-08:00Shared Governance<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">This is a reflection on how
an institution of higher education might take best advantage of its
resources, specifically, it's hierarchical structures. In the corporate world you might have a hierarchy
like this: CEO, vice presidents and directors, unit heads, staff teams, and
clerks. On the academic side of universities you have this: President,
Provost, deans, chairs, and faculty members.</span><br />
<br /><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Already there's an important difference. Unlike most clerks, university faculty members are extraordinarily well
educated, highly specialized, </span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">prestigious</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">, opinionated, and they are more qualified in their
fields than are the administrators they must often answer to. In addition, they
have regular, direct, and close contact with students, on whose satisfaction
the institution depends.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
<br />
Hierarchies are valuable because of the different and important
perspectives at each level. For example, the President has a keen eye to external forces,
macro opportunities, and long range plans. The Provost is aware of national
trends in the academy, concerns across colleges, and issues in non-academic
areas. Deans synthesize information and plan across all departments and
programs. Chairs oversee curriculum, craft schedules, and supervise faculty.
Faculty members stay current within their specialization and they instruct,
mentor, and guide students. They are all essential, but no one really knows the
other one's business.<br />
<br />
Decisions from the top which affect the bottom, if refined at each level, will
be filtered and improved before implementation. If there is good enough
reason they may be changed or even retracted before they are carried out.
When a high level officer tinkers a level or two below -- without
consulting intermediaries -- those decisions may be poor simply due to the lack
of local knowledge. When one layer simply delegates its own decisions to
the level below, the advantages of that layer are skipped over just the same,
only for other reasons. A third problem
is when a level blocks good ideas or important information, and there is no
recourse. When the system is opaque,
unnecessary roadblocks and obstructions pop up for wrong reasons. And without a safe appeal process, there is
no way around them and good things perish.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JSh6wnlgkbA/VLqRGRRL-0I/AAAAAAAAAgQ/jxM9eTQ_KPQ/s1600/students.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JSh6wnlgkbA/VLqRGRRL-0I/AAAAAAAAAgQ/jxM9eTQ_KPQ/s1600/students.JPG" height="180" width="200" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Every level has to
supervise the levels below – that’s the hard job of management. Micromanagement usually means tinkering too
much, or skipping a level or two and getting involved in details one doesn’t
really understand. But there is a equal
opposite sort of micromanagement, when those down below in the hierarchy think
they understand the business of those above.
It’s a similar mistake, just in reverse direction, and both lead to
misunderstanding, antagonism, and distrust. In a university setting, at
least, both ends of the hierarchy are very smart. If they could work together
it could be wonderful thing.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Here’s an example of the problem, though it’ll require a little backstory.
These are two population pyramids which simply graph age cohorts
horizontally, (youngest below) with males to the left and females to the right.</span>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T-ykkpWe3uA/VMEvCuLh07I/AAAAAAAAAgk/IItpvwE9GLo/s1600/neiustudentspyramid.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T-ykkpWe3uA/VMEvCuLh07I/AAAAAAAAAgk/IItpvwE9GLo/s1600/neiustudentspyramid.JPG" height="225" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The first one shows my
unversity's students, with the very lowest bar representing 18-year-olds. Compare
this to the frightening pyramid below, which represents census data for the
10-mile zone around the campuses. This
is that area from which 79% of students commute.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">The largest age cohort in this 10-mile service
area is 25 to 29 years of age, and younger populations become <i>continually, and dramatically smaller </i>for
15 years, where there appears to be only a slight rebound. These are tomorrow’s
college students; these graphs suggest that we are facing some tough times
ahead. I did this analysis in 2012 and proved true; enrollments have spiraled downward
every term thereafter.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9sw7UgNAowo/VLliMmXYXmI/AAAAAAAAAfk/yBU1Ya1LBIk/s1600/chicagopyramid.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9sw7UgNAowo/VLliMmXYXmI/AAAAAAAAAfk/yBU1Ya1LBIk/s1600/chicagopyramid.JPG" height="287" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">With enrollments, so falls
tuition, of course.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">That makes up 60% of income
in this situation ... and state appropriations also falling, revenue is on the
wane. This presents a rather important problem.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
<br />
One response was to cancel classes that weren't nearly full, mainly those in
different sections of the same course, when seating would allow. So a 50-seat
classroom for an introductory course, with only 20 enrolled, could be closed
and those students – one would hope – would move into the other identical class
offered later in the day. It was a sharp departure from past practice, and it
took students and faculty by surprise.
While the cancellations made sense, in a way, it meant some faculty lost
classes or were shifted to another course often just days before the term
started. Some adjunct faculty members lost their jobs and retirements
were not replaced. Students’ programs
were interrupted because their schedules aren’t always flexible; those losing a
daytime class, for example, may not be able to come in the evening. There
was surprise and ire and a blow to morale. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DPNUzcP_iow/VLlimjoIGuI/AAAAAAAAAfw/QziFhmHF1rE/s1600/fewerclasses.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DPNUzcP_iow/VLlimjoIGuI/AAAAAAAAAfw/QziFhmHF1rE/s1600/fewerclasses.JPG" height="200" width="155" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 115%;">Why? Maybe micromanagement or hasty judgment,
perhaps a decision not fully informed by deans or chairs. Maybe a little
opacity made the reasons difficult to understand. Also there might have been some second
guessing about the reasons – a presumption, among some faculty members, of simple mismanagement. Students get their understanding of the
institution from the faculty.<br />
<br />
To the left is a poster, one of many carried by students and faculty
protesters, I believe with good intentions. There were many like it … “We
Keep Busting Our Asses.You Keep Cancelling Classes!”</span><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OEH339b9-F8/VLlimtLpdMI/AAAAAAAAAf0/nZOL7VuGxno/s1600/fewer%2Bstudents.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OEH339b9-F8/VLlimtLpdMI/AAAAAAAAAf0/nZOL7VuGxno/s1600/fewer%2Bstudents.JPG" height="200" width="154" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The photoshopped sign to the right works just as well. Is it
really causation? Or simply
correlation? The problem with enrollments is an important
and complicated one, and it will require a very thoughtful, coordinated effort
to solve.<br />
<br />
Fortunately, there are several systems in place, designed specifically for that
coordination between faculty and administration -- although they may not be used to capacity. The
hierarchy I've already described, if seriously used step-by-step, can refine
decisions coming down so they are better informed and more effective.<br />
<br />
But why should faculty simply <i>wait</i> to hear
what next new initiative is in store? Why should the best ideas <i>always</i> to come
from above, from the birds-eye view, and never from the ground level, where there
is great expertise and local knowledge? And
many institutions of higher education do have an inverse hierarchy, a bottom-up
system called shared governance – it’s a way that the smart people down below
can share in decision making. In my
institution the Faculty Constitution looks something like this: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That’s pretty
robust. The Standing Committees represent important programs across
campus and these all report to the key academic council: Faculty Council on
Academic Affairs. Each council works closely with a vice president and
also shares important matters with the elected Faculty Senate, the last
filtering step infusing faculty perspective before the Senate advises the
President, shoulder-to-shoulder with vice presidents. In the circle
you'll see that the colleges also have their own structure by which faculty can
contribute. These bodies vet proposed curriculum changes and other
important matters, and the Faculty Council coordinates and oversees that
process. Either of these may pass important issues to the Senate, which
itself can initiate requests or advice from any committee or council. The
UAC and the UPBC, two separately elected bodies, made up very broadly of
faculty, staff, administrators, and students, advise the President too.<br />
<br />
It’s a structure that is certainly unique to this one institution, but the
important point is that it allows voices from below to be heard, and puts the
best big ideas into the President’s ear.
It runs counter to the top-down hierarchy, and might be seen as an
opposing structure. But everyone wants a
a vibrant, robust, intellectually stimulating, welcoming, dynamic campus. Everyone wants student success.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So what
goes wrong? In practice many of the
links in the diagram above are tenuous. Some committees don’t exist, some
hardly meet, and some may have a dominating chair or vocal member who may be
more interested in a personal agenda. Or there is good discussion but no
decisions, or there may be an expectation that decisions made (and passed
upward as advice) are perfect and final.
The result may be bad advice, further antagonism and distrust, and
deterioration of the system itself. <br />
<br />
These two hierarchical structures offer ways in which very different, yet
equally essential, parties can collaborate toward a shared goal. They are
two well-designed engines – one running mainly top-down, the other mainly
bottom-up. They are both built to pull
in the same direction but imperfections in the operation of each machine so
easily put them out of sync and at odds, resulting in damaging, aggressive,
actions shooting upward, and damaging, harsh rules pumping down. And at best a painful lurching forward. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
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___________________________________________________<br />
</span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I have a few ideas how
the mechanism might be lubricated -- so simple that I share them at the risk of
appearing (even more) naive. </span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Simplify the hierarchical structures, whenever possible</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Apply the brilliantly democratic Robert's Rules of Order</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Seek, welcome, and study opposing opinions</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Consider the process
of decision making more important than the decisions themselves<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-2357651957691834552014-12-28T08:38:00.000-08:002017-08-01T17:43:07.308-07:00Mental Math<div style="font-family: Tahoma; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">
There's a type of pain a brain will suffer only from mathematics, and I had a splitting headache of that kind in high school once as I struggled with some concept I couldn't quite master. I was good with numbers at that time, in the most advanced classes and really enjoying it -- but when I approached the teacher for help I was summarily turned away, I don't know why. Maybe the guy was having a bad day. But I needed help and wasn't getting it, so I finished that class as best I could and didn't take another, for a long long time. And that was too bad -- because although math does hurt, it's really really cool.</div>
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Recently I took a course called Mental Math out of Harvey Mudd, with Professor Arthur Benjamin through The Great Courses, an online business that is remarkably solid. It was the tenth course I've taken through TGC and one of the best. As it turns out, these skills are so useful I wish I had them long ago. Benjamin starts most of his 12 lectures by demonstrating, to a live audience, some pretty impressive feats. And then he breaks them down into digestible parts. </div>
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Some of the lessons were more or less common sense. Like breaking down a problem like 19*32 to (20*32) - 32. That's 608. Or that multiplying a single digit by 9 results in a product starting one less than the digit followed by its complement to 9. 9*8=72 9*3=27 and so on.</div>
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Some lessons were approximate. If you want to check the order of magnitude of a multiplication answer, add the number of digits on both sides. Your product will have that many digits or one fewer. Which? If the product of the two largest place digits is 10 or more, it'll be the sum of the digits. If it's four or less, definitely the sum minus one. Example: 6475*480. Since 6*4 >=10, the product has the full 7 digits. If we multiply 1234 * 298, since 1*2 <=4, the product will have 6 digits. Check it, it's true.</div>
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Multiplying by 11 is freaky easy. 11*54=594 .. that 5 and 4 look familiar? The 9 is the sum of them. 11*32=352. 11*18=198. That is, 11*AB=A A+B B and it works for large numbers too! 11 * ABCDE is A A+B B+C C+D D+E and E -- 11*2345= 25,795. It only gets a little tricky when the two numbers add to more than 9, like 11*789, in which case it's 7 7+8 8+9 9 or 7 15 17 9. Carry the 1's right to left and you easily see 8,679. That's pretty much it for 11zies.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LFzQNd6v-Ec/VKB5sU-K-2I/AAAAAAAAAfI/s6RpN7svtBI/s1600/cross.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="121" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LFzQNd6v-Ec/VKB5sU-K-2I/AAAAAAAAAfI/s6RpN7svtBI/s1600/cross.JPG" width="320" /></a>It turns out the way I learned multiplication is the most drawn-out way to do it. Here's another way, the Criss Cross method: take a small one first: 21*47. Right to left it's 1*7 = SEVEN. (1*4)+(2*7)=18, that's EIGHT, carry a 1. This is followed by 4*2 [plus the carried 1] is NINE, so the answer is 987. Here's about as bad as it gets, with more carrying: 37*62. 7*2=14, FOUR carry the 1. [ (7*6=42)+(3*2=6)]=48, plus the carried 1 =49 that's NINE carry the 4. Finally, 3*6=18 plus the carried 4= 22 ... so the answer is 2294. In other words AB*CD is AC, [(B*C)+(A*D)], then B*D, with a little bit of carrying. For bigger numbers this works, too, but you'll probably need paper ... I'll show you ABCD*EFGH. Start with the ones: D*H, then the next product digit moving left comes from (C*H)+(D*G). Then BH+CG+DF. Then AH+BG+CF+DE, then AG+BF+CE, then AF+BE, then AE. Yes it's a chore but all you write down is the answer.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7SW9MknYmPY/VKBusSJ8YeI/AAAAAAAAAeY/YERg0IMk-2c/s1600/shift.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7SW9MknYmPY/VKBusSJ8YeI/AAAAAAAAAeY/YERg0IMk-2c/s1600/shift.JPG" width="320" /></a>Here's another way when the two digit numbers are anywhere near close together. Let's start easy: 43*42. Look for a nice tens number nearby (40). 43 is +3 from 40 and 42 is +2 away. Take 43 and <br />
add the +2 (from the 42-40), OR the 42 plus the =3. Either way you get 45. Now 45*40 is easy to figure in your head ... as easy as 45*4, it's 1800. Then just add the multiplication of the two adjusters: 2*3. So the answer is 1806. The same thing works when one or both numbers are below the target tenzie. Try 28*34. It's just 30*32=960 ... plus (-2*4) ... 952. See, I added 4 to 28 or subtracted 2 from 34 to get the 32 to multiply by 30. If both numbers are below the target, you add their product of course, because a negative times a negative is a positive. Example: 38*36 = (34*40)+(-2*-4) = 1360+8=1368. </div>
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If you're multiplying two numbers that start the same, and the last two numbers add to 10 there's a super easy way. 67*63, take the 6 and multiply by (6+1), then concatenate the product of 7 and 3. That's (6*7),(7*3) ... 4221.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xiSAMXy9yUw/VKBwCXaZUgI/AAAAAAAAAek/-QqyteNUgjk/s1600/between10and20.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="92" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xiSAMXy9yUw/VKBwCXaZUgI/AAAAAAAAAek/-QqyteNUgjk/s1600/between10and20.JPG" width="200" /></a>To multiply any two numbers between 10 and 20, you can do it this way. Say 17*14. Take 17+4=21, times 10 (210) then add 7*4 ... it's 238. It works either way of course -- you could go 14*17, 14+7=21, times 10 and add the same 4*7.</div>
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When it comes to division, I learned the old long division, which is just a waste of time when the divisor is small because in that case short division on paper is just the same and so much quicker. Why write all those numbers? If you want to get the order of magnitude of your quotient correct, the length of the answer is the difference in length of the number and divisor, or sometimes that +1 digit. To determine whether to add the 1 digit just compare the two largest digits. If that for the number you're dividing is smaller, it'll be just the difference in digits. E.g., 6543/739, because the 6 is smaller than the 7 it will yield a 1 digit number (8.84...); but the result of 5439/284 will be two digits (19.15...). Because 5 is larger than 2. </div>
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If you want to know if something is divisible by 2 just look at the one=place digit, everyone knows that. 6748 is, 7643 isn't. But it'll be divisible by 3 if the sum of all the digits are a multiple of 3. Try 3471, that adds to 15, so 3471 divides neatly by 3. A number is divisible by 4 if the last two digits are divisible by 4. By 5 if the last digit is 5 or 0, of course. By six if it's divisible by both 2 and 3 (see above). 7 is the most complicated: Take off the last digit, double it, and subtract it from the rest. E.g., 112? 2 doubled is 4 and 11-4=7. Since that's a multiple of 7, 112 is too. It's divisible by 8 if the last three digits are divisible by 8. Nine is like three; sum the digits and if that is a multiple of 9, you're good.</div>
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Another way to do 7 is this. By example, take 1234. Add or subtract a multiple of 7 to get to get a 0 in the one's place: 1234-14=1220, then kill the 0: 122. Do it again: 122+28=150, and kill the 0. 15 is not divisible by 7, so neither is 1234. This trick works for any number ending in 1, 3, 7, or 9. Is 1472 divisible by 23? Well, 1472-92=1380 ... 138+92 =230. Kill the 0 and you get 23. So yes it is. </div>
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Besides being fun, there's some immediately practical information in this course. To calculate change just take the complement which adds to 9 for every digit except the last one, which adds to 10. So pay $10 for something that costs $1.32? $8.68 change. Costs $6.98? It's $3.02. Just add another $10 if you paid with a $20 bill. I now can beat just about any checkout clerk.</div>
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Here's another really freaky cool trick. Let's say you multiplied two very large numbers: 1,246*35,791=44,595,586 . To check your work add 1, 2, 4, 6= 13, then add that 1 and 3, to get 4. Then add the 3, 5 , 7, 9, 1 that's 25, and 2+5=7. Then since you're multiplying, multiply the 7*4=28, the 2+8=10 and the 1+0 =1. That's a lot of collapsing, but it's worth it. Compare this to the sum of 4, 4, 5, 9, 5, 5, 8, 6= 46 and 4+6=10 and 1+0 =1. If the numbers match the the answer is <u>most probably</u> right! If the numbers don't match, it's <u>certainly</u> wrong, like this: Does 27*43= 1151? Well, 9*7=63 and 6+3=9 ... and the digits of 1151 add to 8. So it's WRONG, for sure. This trick works for subtraction just the same.</div>
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Squaring two-digit numbers that end in 5 is easy because the product always ends in 25. Take 85 squared. 8*9=72, so it's 7225. X5squared is [X*(X+1)] and tack on 25. Wala. Works for multi-digit numbers too.</div>
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Vedic Division is really pretty extraordinary. It works best when dividing by a 2-digit number that ends in 9 or another high number. Say, 47869/49. You change the 49 to 50 and just divide by 5, working left to right. 47/5 is 9, remainder 2. But because we fudged a bit to get 5, instead of dividing 28 (the carried 2 and the next digit, 8) by 5 you first add the 9 from the quotient to 28, so the next is 37/5 =7R2, then (26+7=33)/5=6R3 and 39+6=45 ... so the answer is 976 R45. If your divisor ends in 8 then double the previous digit in the quotient; if 7, triple it. If it ends in 1, subtract the previous quotient; if in 2, subtract it twice. If that's not clear, buy the lectures. They're worth it, I assure you.</div>
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One of the most fun lessons was figuring out the day of the week for any date. You have to memorize a few things, like add 1 for the 1900s, 3 for the 1800s, 5 for anything in the 1700's and 0 for the 1600s or 2000s. And you have to memorize a number among 0-6 for each month. January is 6, Feb 2, M 2, A 5, M 0, Ju 3, Jul 5, A 1, S 4, O 6, N 2, Dec. 4. Pure memorization, though there are tricks you can use. Then you do it this way. Let's say Feb 12 1809 -- Charles Darwin's birthday. 3 for the 1800s plus 2 because there were two leap years by '09 (9/4, throw out the remainder), then add the 9 itself ... 14. For Feb add 2, that's 16. Then 12 for the day, we're at 28. Divide by 7, the R is what we're looking for. 28/7=4R0. You start at Sunday with 0, Monday as 1, through Saturday (6). Darwin was born on a Sunday. This gets easier when you start dropping any multiple of 7 at any time, and drop any multiple of 28 years between the years 1901 and 2099. Nov. 6 1975? It's 75/4=18 leap years and 75-56 (28*2) is 19. 19+18 is 37, drop the 7s, that leaves 2. Add another 2 for Nov and 6 for the 6th, and 1 for the 1990s. That's 11. Drop a 7 and it's 4, that's Thursday. If you're early in the millennium, it's real easy. What day is July 4 in 2015? 27/7 =3R6 Saturday. </div>
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There are just a couple of twists. On leap years subtract 1 from the months Jan and Feb, so they are 5, and 1 respectively. And this astronomical correction I was not even aware of: any year ending in 00 does not leap, unless it ends in 400 -- then it does. </div>
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Many of these tricks, if you actually do them in your head, require holding numbers while you work on others. That gets confusing. The Major System helps, because it converts numbers to letters. You basically read numerals like the alphabet instead. 1=T/D/Th, 2=N, 3=M, 4=R, 5=L, 6=G/sh/ch, 7=K/hard G, 8=F/V, 9=P/B, 0=S/Z Words are much easier to remember than strings of digits, and when you have to keep both in your head, they are less likely to get confused. I've been using the Major System for awhile, so I was gratified when Benjamin recommended it.</div>
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I've combed through much of my notes for this little summary -- but there's more, and Professor Benjamin will explain it much betters. He took me to a few places, near the end, which almost started up that old headache again. But it was worth it. I recommend the video version of the course, not the audio, because there is quite a lot of visualization. If you buy it, wait for a sale, and you'll need a notebook. Benjamin is earnest, enthusiastic, well paced, and clear. He gives excellent examples, explains <i>why</i> these things work, and demonstrates almost inhuman mastery of these skills, sometimes thinking aloud so you can see his process. It's so much fun. Here's a link: <a href="http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/secrets-of-mental-math.html">http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/secrets-of-mental-math.html</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-12539889514031926822014-07-04T07:07:00.000-07:002014-09-16T21:21:29.667-07:00Memes are the new Genes<div class="MsoNormal">
After Darwin struck upon evolution he kept it pretty much to
himself for nearly 20 years; he knew he was on to something big, but also that it would be vehemently opposed. If Wallace hadn’t been
about to spill the beans with his similar insight, Charles may have never shared his depth of thought and impressive wealth of supporting evidence. And although, today, while genetic evolution is about as close to fact as you can get, in the United States just a little over half accept it as probably or certainly true. According to a Gallup poll two
thirds think humans were probably or definitely created in their present form; Some groups (e.g. Republicans) seem to be moving more firmly to that view.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Why would they do that?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Well maybe it’s just not pleasant to think of one’s self coming from
the muck, as resulting entirely from a series of errors, as being infused with
prehistoric impulses, or as a descendant of an ape, shrew, worm, and sponge and kin to everything alive -- or even not alive -- today. It’s particularly hard to accept if it makes one question the happier more familiar explanations of human existence. Evidence for evolution is easy to reject when there are still magical stories to retell.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Given the resistance to something so solidly shown, it’s not surprising to me
that memetics has had a rough go too, even though it also has obvious merit and deep implications.
Memetics, you might say, is the new genetics. It’s like we are in the mid 1800s again, resisting this germ of a huge idea. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There have been more recent books on the topic, like Tim
Tyler’s <u>Memes: The Science of Cultural Evolution </u>(2011)and Brodie's <u>The Virus of the Mind</u> (2011) but I think it will be
hard to beat Susan Blackmore’s <u>The Meme Machine (1999)</u> for a solid primer on
this mind-bending train of thought.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The word "meme" has even hit popular culture; I just Binged “Internet Meme” and found 825,000 hits. But that's just a popular video on YouTube -- it's relevant to memetics, but in a trivial way. Memes are more than that:: these are ideas that duplicate themselves, jumping from brain to brain. When you retell a good joke you've heard, have you just used the joke, or has the joke used you? </div>
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But it goes deeper; let me try to intrigue you with something more.<br />
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Consider the basics of genetic evolution: individuals are different, and the more successful ones tend to pass on the contributing genes. Creatures that are more clever than their cohorts are often better survivors, so cleverness is rewarded and brains became larger and smarter. Memetics suggests that at some point these brains become receptive to ideas that have nothing to do with the host's survival or procreation. Humans then, are the result of two evolutionary forces: genes which groom our bodies and brains, and memes which infect our minds. Because ideas can influence behavior, and behavior can affect genes, while at the same time genes can affect the ability to learn -- the two forces influence one another. But they often pull in different directions.<br />
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Meme is a shortened version of 'mimeme' which means 'imitated thing' in ancient Greek but Richard Dawkins in his 1976 The Selfish Gene wanted something shorter and a little more like 'gene'. To be fair, Hamilton in '63 and Haldane in '55 contributed to the idea he made popular then.<br />
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Memes aren’t just any idea you might have, any emotion or feeling or creative impulse. They are the thoughts that can transfer from person to person by imitation. Although they are not perfectly analogous to genes, they have some important things in common. They replicate. They change. And they matter. That's enough for natural selection to take hold, as Dawkins explained when he coined the term meme in his 1976 book <u>The Selfish Gene</u> and this means they move and change on their own. They are like viruses, which depend on living cells but move between them freely. Blackmore puts it this way: memes are unleashed when brains become sophisticated enough to 1) transform an idea from one point of view to another, 2) decide
what to imitate, and 3) produce matching behavior.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It's tempting to try to compare memes to genes directly, but this has been one stumbling block in their acceptance. Stephen Jay Gould called memetics a “meaningless metaphor” and others have been harsher still. But memes aren't like genes. Why would they have to be?<br />
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Blackmore uses the analogy of a recipe for a meal to make this point. If it is written down and photocopied it is
very much like genetic code – each person might make a little change, by taste or error, but with every generation the code is reset. If it is passed on by observation or verbally, however, or jotted down on the back
of an envelope, then it is not like genes because any error or alteration will
persist. In that sense it’s Lamarkian [Lamark believed
in heritability of acquired characteristics]. Either way, the recipe is a meme.
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Is the whole recipe the meme or just each ingredient? A similar question is central to genetic evolution (is it genes, is it organisms, species or groups which are selected?). But Blackmore answers “any or all of the above.” The key to memes is imitation, which she carefully distinguishes between contagion, social learning, and imagination. She contrasts the prevailing view of evolutionary psychologists and her own, and at times she even disagrees (refreshingly) with Pinker, Dawkins, and Dennett -- all of whom are my main guys, by the way. There are many references and citations.<br />
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Many who have supported memetics assume that memes mainly inform
genetic change – in other words, that while ideas evolve their function is to affect genes. So we had the idea
to leave the forest for savanna, and genes were then groomed for bipedalism. Memes may affect us, but through genetic selection.</div>
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But this can't be right. Memes don’t always agree with
genes. Sure, in a culture that is insular, a tribe that is small, or when
families are close-knit, the flow of information and directives is mainly vertical, generation after generation. That’s
the way the genes flow too, so in those situations there is no conflict -- ideas that increase survival
and procreation will propagate and thrive if the tribe does too. On the other hand, for example, if an Amish household adopts the
idea of celibacy, both that family line and the idea are
not likely to fare well.<br />
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This may be a reason to distrust neighboring tribes, to create and reject the "other" -- they may have ideas which would be invasive to our own.</div>
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Because when information flows horizontally memes travel in a cross-current to genes. Their interests (which is ultimately self propagation) may be quite different. Though some ideas are aligned with
genetic survival, some are irrelevant to it, and some fly in the face of genetic advantage and this is where it becomes most interesting and useful to understand. Consider family
planning, contraception, abortion, homosexuality ... genes would "object" vehemently to these notions, yet memetics would predict that they could thrive.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Happily, many of these ideas
are testable. Is internet connectivity
correlated to use of contraception? Is abortion a greater taboo in authoritarian societies? Is a rigid society more socially conservative? Are gay rights
more common where press is unfettered? At the time of the writing the answers were not known.<o:p></o:p><br />
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If memes duplicate selectively, what makes one more likely to be repeated or imitated than another? This has been carefully studied by advertisers and politicians. Currency, novelty, alignment with preexisting ideas, repetition, danger, contrast, association, utility, sequence, context, timing. All of these things affect how convincing or coercive a message will be.<o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the hard facts about genes are that they aren't always
nice to their host. It's replication of the genes, not the creature, that drives evolution and sometimes interests clash between genes and their organism. There are lots of examples how humans even are full of quirky errors -- the way the eye is wired, for example, leaving a blind spot. Genes aren't aligned with groups, either: a 50:50 sex ratio is a good example of this, as I've explained in a previous post. Likewise, memes aren’t
always nice to genes and they aren’t always particularly nice to their humans. Just as a virus jumps from host to host, memes do the same, with similar disregard for the health of their host beyond the meme's ability to spread itself more widely. </div>
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Darrell Ray wrote The God Virus (2009), which made fairly close and very interesting analogy of the spread of religions (although he didn't use the term meme) to viruses.</div>
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At the heart of the argument Blackmore presents, is imitation. </div>
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"Once imitation arose three new process could begin. First, memetic selection (that is the survival of some memes at the expense of others). Second, genetic selection for the ability to imitate the new memes (the best imitators of the best imitations have higher reproductive success). Third, genetic selection for mating with the best imitators." (116)</blockquote>
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There is a chapter on how memes may have been the root cause of the jump in brain size about 2.5 million years ago, about when toolmaking began. Her speculation, to summarize, is that this was the dawn of true imitation and genes that assisted imitation were quickly groomed by sexual selection. David Deutsch said something similar in <u>The Beginning of Infinity</u>. Brain size, Blackmore speculated, may be like peacock feathers: peahens took a liking to large feathers and feathers got larger and larger and larger in a crazy feedback loop called runaway evolution. "We need not take it for granted," she said, "that big brains, intelligence and all that goes with them are necessarily a good thing for the genes." (p 120)</div>
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Another leap, about 100,000 years ago -- language -- also may have been directed by memes. From the meme's perspective "a silent person is an idle copy machine waiting to be exploited." (p 84). A scandal, horrifying news, useful information, anything that taps into sexual needs or increments social status are memes just pressing for expression. Those individuals who could better express themselves would have the advantage and so language itself emerged, she argued -- in the service of imitation.</div>
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She takes on altruism (Chapters 12 and 13), cults (Chapter 14) religion (15), and the impact of the internet (16). In the clinching chapter Blackmore speculates that self awareness itself (i.e., consciousness) may have been born of memes, as so: sense of self creates a sense of ownership, including ownership of ideas, hence a proponent of those ideas, thus giving a meme an advantage by grooming a sense of self. "The self," she wrote, "is a great protector of memes."<br />
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Could we be the battlefield for competing memes, and their soldiers as well? Do we take ideas in, convince ourselves that they are ours, and then protect them as possessions so we actively promote them to others? But by this new way of thinking, ideas seem a bit like parasites.<br />
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But there's little wonder (as I've noticed), that the science of memetics is hardly popular, and even the subject of derision. I mean half adults in the United States don't accept genetic evolution --are we really ready to consider that news, the gossip, lessons from mother, our hobbies, knowledge, trades, warnings, friendly advice, careers, our avocations, preoccupations and all of the rest are not only outside under our control .. but that might be taking <i>us </i>for a ride?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I don't think so. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oVuuaY03gh0/U7aysaVXqYI/AAAAAAAAAYY/5a_oaFKDQeQ/s1600/memegraph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oVuuaY03gh0/U7aysaVXqYI/AAAAAAAAAYY/5a_oaFKDQeQ/s1600/memegraph.jpg" height="330" width="400" /></a></div>
Despite the small foothold, evident in the graph to the right (the two scales are wildly different of course), memetics as a science is probably not going anywhere fast. But Blackmore suggests there might be some personal advantage to considering it anyway. If you ponder your own thoughts -- and she recommends meditating -- to trace their origins, it may help put things in a better more healthy perspective. Modern life may be stressful, she suggests, not because we want to take advantage of all the wonderful new opportunities and ideas, but because the ideas want to take advantage of us.<br />
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Certainly food for thought.<br />
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The Meme Machine Susan Blackmore, 1999.</div>
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264 pp references, index.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-74881008927086357012014-05-20T09:06:00.000-07:002014-05-24T12:51:21.211-07:00Conflict and Decision Making in Organizations<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fafafa; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Encountering conflict is rarely fun and people go to great lengths to avoid it. But with none, there would be no change. In this essay I will begin with conflict at the very lowest level, Darwinian evolution, and work my way up to complex organizations using the same principals. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">Evolution is a simple process in which strife plays a central role. Richard Dawkins, in his seminal book <u>The Selfish Gene</u> (1976) wrote that all that is needed for evolution to take hold is three things: </span></span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Something matters (has contact with the outside world)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It can replicate</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Sometimes variations occur</span></span></li>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Look closely. Number 3 is conflict, pure and simple. It’s a difference of opinion, just in the language of DNA. Say all egg shells were perfect for a time, then the environment changes and the shells might be a little too thick or thin. Neither is good for the chick. Then one bird lays eggs with thicker walls; in essence she’s just disagreed about egg laying. Which is the better idea? Nature answers with differential survival rates and off it goes. Conflict improves everything, all the time. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;"> We even have a lot of internal conflict and a whole lot more than we recognize. I particularly liked Daniel Kahneman (the father of behavioral economics)’s treatment of systems 1 (knowing) and system 2 (thinking) in <u>Thinking Fast and Slow</u> (2013) to illustrate how imperfectly we actually go about our days. We decide quickly, on incomplete information and with sketchy logic, and then we are overconfident in our decisions. This is the solution evolution has given us because it works … well enough. The human brain, he wrote, is “a machine designed for jumping to conclusions." </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Meditate once; if you’re like me, you’re a mess inside. The lessons I draw from this are all hard ones: </span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">try not to make hasty decisions</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">nobody is perfect (we’re not even very good)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">don’t be sure</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">practice forgiveness, all around</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">As if all the internal confusion is not enough, we encounter many more ideas, options, and challenging opinions when we communicate with others. All of these compete for traction too. In one way it’s just more inner turmoil, just amplified. In human history this jumped once with language, again with writing and the printing press, then with the radio and telephone, and now with the internet -- we are drowning in competing ideas. Talk about conflict.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">But there is another interesting aspect to the sea of information. We share ideas and then we sometimes alter them. Some of these ideas are more salient than others. Some also join together, forming philosophies, ideologies, political or economic systems, paradigms. Ideas are much like genes, groomed by selection, teaming up for more complex solutions. Ideas satisfy all of Dawkins’ requirements. Ideas evolve, too. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">When you get multiple people together they all have different, and sometimes conflicting, goals. There are limited resource, so decisions have to be made. But on the basis of what, by what measure? It’s tempting sometimes to take the easiest choice. Or what’s best for self. But would it be better to pursue the greatest good for all? Yet how inclusive is “all?” And should the choice be best just now, or in some longer time frame? Should we go for best-average goodness, or is equity a better goal? Is goodness itself measured in happiness, meaningfulness, or some other unit? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">All those are certainly important, and let’s even say that one or more goals can be agreed upon – a mission statement, if you will. How best to reach those goals?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">There will be disagreement and even outright struggle. But it’s remarkable how many opportunities there are for cooperative, mutually beneficial, relationships; nature, even, is full of them. It’s probably fair to say that the more complex something is, the more cooperation is required, and that many cooperative relationships are fragile. They may break down when individuals can cheat the group for private gain -- that’s why we have rules, laws, cultural norms, and peer pressure – to stop mass defection. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">When an institution gets complicated enough it typically specializes and organizes in a layered way. Let’s take a university for an example – lots of opinions, strong personalities, great complexity, and plenty of conflict. There are certainly coalitions with competing perspectives, and also a whole lot of cooperation. There are hierarchies. The basic one goes something like this: Students, faculty, program coordinator, chair, dean, provost, president. Another one is student aide, office staff, supervisor, program director, vice president, president. Want a new degreed program?: Faculty, college, provost, president, board, perhaps state legislature. Student grade complaint?: professor, chair, dean, grade appeals committee. Faculty tenure? Department personnel committee, chair, dean, provost, president. There are lots and lots of vertical hierarchies.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">In a complex institution important decisions are made in at least two ways: within groups, and between levels of the hierarchy. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">First, within levels. There are meetings, usually in committee because there are just too many people otherwise. Meetings which are solely to transfer information are irrelevant for decision making purposes. Someone gives a presentation, distributes literature, people report what they’ve done ... these may be useful for other reasons, but not for deciding. Nothing happens that couldn’t be done with a targeted announcement, or a web page. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">Question and and answer sessions, which may follow presentations, are different. They reverse the flow of information and allow for two-way exchanges in which ideas may usefully clash. And sometimes there are brainstorming sessions -- idea-gathering -- but as Jonah Lehrer pointed out in <u>Imagine</u>, brainstorm sessions where “there are no bad ideas,” are not all that useful because there actually <i>are</i> bad ideas. You have to <i>sort through</i> the ideas. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">The best committees have members who represent different constituencies, will engage with issues coming before the committee, and are able and willing to contribute their perspectives and listen to others’. Right there are five ways committees can fail. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">For running a committee it’s hard to beat Roberts Rules of Order as a beautifully fair process which insures that all voices are heard, nothing is done in a rash way, everyone has equal say, and things move on at a fair pace. More important decisions require a higher level of agreement, there is always an opportunity to reverse or improve a solution, and minority voices are fully heard. It’s a wonderful, surprisingly simple, system which I learned primarily by reading <u>The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Roberts’ Rules</u> by Nancy Sylvester (2004). (it’s much more enjoyable than the original source).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">Most committees claim to follow Robert’s Rules of Order but from my experience very few actually do beyond the sequence “a motion=>a second</span><span style="color: #222222;">=></span><span style="color: #222222;">a majority vote.” But even that skips the essential step, discussion – it’s “motion</span><span style="color: #222222;">=></span><span style="color: #222222;">second</span><span style="color: #222222;">=></span><span style="color: #222222;"><i>discussion</i></span><span style="color: #222222;">=></span><span style="color: #222222;">vote” and in that discussion there may be secondary motions relating the main motion, and the secondary ones have to get voted on first. Sound complicated? Just at first. Using Sylvester’s ladder analogy, there is a set order of motions that may be made; you can skip steps going up, but can’t skip pending motions coming down. Higher number motions must always be voted on first. </span></span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Main motion is made</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A motion may be made to basically kill the motion</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A motion may be made to amend the motion</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A motion may be made to amend the amendment</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A motion may be made to refer it to a committee</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A motion may be made to postpone to a certain time</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A motion may be made to limit or extend limits of the debate</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">… and so on. There are 14 levels in a strict order. And believe it or not, it does all make sense.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In 25 years serving on committees I’ve never heard a secondary motion, except those I’ve made, and when I do there is general confusion about whether that sort of thing is even allowed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">It’s bad enough when “Roberts” is used to ramrod a vote through a group, but it’s worse when the committee chair misunderstands his/her own designated role as facilitator, and believes that the chair wields authority as if it is <i>his/her own committee</i>. Chairs should really read Roberts, or have a parliamentarian (a Roberts expert) at hand because when a chair lords it over a group a lot of good conflict is missed out on, a lot of good disagreement is lost, and decisions are therefore ill-informed. Of course if members know the rules, this can’t happen. But they generally don’t know them well enough to stop a rogue chair. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">Another common failure is when no one moderates discussion, in which case the more assertive or emphatic members become the authoritarians, not only monopolizing the airwaves, but possibly intimidating junior or less vocal members with their forceful opinions. Roberts describes how every member who wants to speak can have their turn, limits the length and number of times a person can address a single topic, lets new voices jump sequence, and attempts to alternate between opinions for and against an argument. If it’s just a free-for-all, the group may appear to agree on something, when one or two, representing themselves, have basically done all the talking.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">Another form of decision making is consensus which, contrary to popular opinion, does not mean “apparent unanimity,” a general assessment of views shared. Reaching consensus is a formal process. The <i>goal</i> is unanimity and the process is by lengthy discussion with special attention given to dissenting opinions. The group attempts to improve the decision so that as many perspectives as possible are satisfied. If unanimity is not possible in the end, the dissenters may agree to “stand aside,” letting the will of the group carry -- that would still be consensus. It’s a very careful, formal, respectful process, and like Roberts’ it’s not well understood. The only time I saw it carried out in decades, it was followed by a quick motion=>second=>vote on the question “do we have consensus.” There is no voting, with consensus. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">The two methods do much the same thing. In Roberts’ terms consensus would be an extended debate, 100% agreement is required -- a single “No” vote extends the process -- and people have the right to abstain. Roberts is more efficient, consensus is more inclusive. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">Like it or not, decisions often come down from above; the big picture must be taken into account. So faculty tell students to write a paper and then grade them in their office. Deans tell departments if they can hire. Provost tells Deans about their budgets, and so on. So regardless of how hard a committee may have worked to arrive at a decision, regardless of the process, or the quality of the decision itself – the moment it is passed to a higher level, it becomes advice. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">Since I’ve shared my opinion on how Roberts and consensus goes wrong; I’ll mention now how the hierarchies sometimes seem to fail. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">There are at least three common problems. The first is when a level simply delegates decision making to the layer beneath it – “here, you decide and I’ll just go with your decision.” If decisions from below are allowed to simply percolate upward, it’s the bigger picture that is missing and things are likely to spin out of control. Recently I heard a complaint about a reversed decision: [all these lower layers] agreed, how could [the next layer] possibly disagree with all that went before? Well, if that’s the way it works, you only need the lowest level, right? That would be students, let them decide how to run the University. Whoa, they just banished tuition and fees, eliminated requirements and gave themselves A’s. No, it’s the different views between layers that is so essential. Levels in a hierarchy are valuable <i>because</i> and only<i> if </i>they can disagree. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">Second, reasoned decisions from below may be ignored by a higher level. When this happens all the committee work is a waste of time and you just have an authoritarian system. Then you’d better cross your fingers because it’s actually very difficult to understand all the issues from 1,000 feet above ground level; you see more from up there, but much in quite low resolution. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">The third problem is when directives from above skip a step going downward or are forced through with no opportunity for pushback. In other words, micromanagement. Not allowing a layer to reflect -- even briefly -- on the ultimate decision being passed down is unwise because there might actually be good reasons to make some more adjustments. As before, the layers serve a purpose, here as a quick feedback loop or early warning system. Ideally, decisions go up, step by step, and they come down step by step and at each step there is an opportunity for quality control, feedback, and improvement. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">Skipping levels or forcing down decisions (especially unpopular ones) is likely to damage morale too – as in “neither your reasoning nor your opinions nor you, matter” -- which may have an impact on cooperation, later.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">Usually the layers are in place for a good reason, one would hope. But fiefdoms tend to grow organically, if allowed to, spawning more layers and sometimes with their own layers too. A director hires two associate directors, each of which has assistants and staff. It's a cancerous sort of growth, you might say. This is when two important words come most into play: <i>Accountability</i> and <i>Transparency</i>. Otherwise, you are likely to have indiscriminate growth, inefficiencies, and waste. And when there are too many layers things more often get delayed, lost, or perverted. Too few layers and you have partial blindness. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #222222;">Like the incestuous little fiefdoms, procedures can grow out of control with inattention, too. They may be distorted, over time, by adding steps, often with good intentions: Are the right groups consulted, are records kept, are things done in sequence? Are the steps inclusive, do they incorporate differing views? Are peripheral interests informed? Are there checkpoints for abuses or error? And sometimes in all the effort to satisfy these concerns important questions are lost: Is it <i>efficient</i>? Does it even move quickly </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i-ob0sZICts/U3t7gvNh8dI/AAAAAAAAAXU/PWzodlrMiGE/s1600/flowchart+for+adjuncts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i-ob0sZICts/U3t7gvNh8dI/AAAAAAAAAXU/PWzodlrMiGE/s1600/flowchart+for+adjuncts.jpg" height="269" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">enough to work? Are there so many steps that things </span><span style="color: #222222;">get misplaced along the way? Fixing procedures does require the 500 foot or 1,000 foot view. </span></span><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i-ob0sZICts/U3t7gvNh8dI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/SconNMIOUJ4/s1600/flowchart+for+adjuncts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #222222;">I’ve found it helpful (and sometimes amusing) to diagram complex processes when I can finally figure them out. Here’s a favorite ... As a chair I often have to hire adjuncts, and it’s twelve steps, with some gaps, before they can post their syllabus on the course management system. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222;">Things work quite well too, often, that’s for sure. Here I’ve tried to explain why disagreement is so important to improvement and a few ways which, seems to me, it could sometimes be put to better use. When I’m too quick to judge or criticize, too harsh or pointed, or even unclear, clouded, hypocritical, naive, self contradictory, if my reasoning isn't sound or I'm more confident about this than I should be; if I've overlooked something so important that it changes everything ... well I wouldn't be surprised. I am, after all, a machine jumping to conclusions. Take my thoughts for what they’re worth. Improve them, please, and </span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #222222;">I’ll be trying to do that, too. </span></span></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-75688915105609292682014-05-03T23:53:00.003-07:002014-05-21T15:38:54.480-07:00How Genes Affect Learning<div class="MsoNormal">
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Genetic influences on behavior, and learning, are two things
that interest me deeply so I picked up <u>G is for </u><u>Genes</u>, ( 2014) by a behavioral
geneticist from King's College, London, and a psychologist from the University of York, U.K. The book addresses this question: how do genes affect
learning?</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eMwP8AK-Uwk/U2Xih3CaAvI/AAAAAAAAAXE/f362rcinA_s/s1600/book.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eMwP8AK-Uwk/U2Xih3CaAvI/AAAAAAAAAXE/f362rcinA_s/s1600/book.bmp" height="200" width="131" /></a></div>
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This is not at all about eugenics or I wouldn't have read
it. The authors are interested in understanding
exactly how genes affect learning so that we can narrow the learning-gap more
skillfully. I’ll try to peel out some of
the most surprising, interesting, and useful bits, and I’ll draw on some
courses I’ve taken recently too – Philosophy of the Mind by Patrick Grim of the
State University of New York and Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior,
by Mark Leary of Duke.</div>
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Height is heritable of course. If your parents are both tall you're likely
to be tall too. In the U.S. , for example,
for white males, it's about 80% that way; the rest is due either to the shared
environment (like a particular family or school) or a non-shared environment
(experiences unique to the individual). In
the case of height, being raised in an affluent home is a shared experience and
being stricken by a childhood illness is non-shared. Both might affect your height.</div>
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But in some parts of
the world height is environmental – genes account for no more than half. Why? Not
because the genes matter less, it’s that the environment matters more –
there’s more variation. In Somalia some
people don’t have enough to eat, and some have plenty.</div>
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The same thing is true about education, of course. Look at these findings. Eighty percent of
reading differences in Australian children after kindergarten are genetic. In Colorado it is just 66% and in
Scandinavia, 30% of reading skills are genetic.
What's going on? Australian
children at the age of 5 go to school from 9 to 3 p.m. Colorado requires just 3-4 hours a day, and
in Sweden and Norway compulsory schooling begins at 7. When some go to to preschool and some don’t,
some kids have parents who read to them and some don’t -- the environment
really matters. By the age of 10 reading
levels are 80% genetic in all three countries.</div>
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So is there a “reading gene?” No, like most things, many many genes
interact to affect many many things.
Genes are generalists, the authors say.
The environment is a specialist.
But how do we know that 80 percent of reading ability is due to DNA? The answer to these sorts of questions
usually involve twins: identical twins
raised apart or adopted children in the same shared environment. Fraternal twins who are more similar than
sequential siblings tell us something about the shared environment. Steven Pinker says we should throw out almost
all studies on parenting unless they control for heritability – maybe Johnny is
a pistol because he had angry parents who spanked him, but then again maybe
anger just runs in the family. You need
lots of twins to sort that out.</div>
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I’ve read many times that much of personality is genetic --
approximately half, depending on the trait. Here is a typical breakdown for
personality, based on twin studies of course:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5ghEp8rliNA/U2XdG7lN-bI/AAAAAAAAAWw/aRMT1uJmFzI/s1600/traits.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5ghEp8rliNA/U2XdG7lN-bI/AAAAAAAAAWw/aRMT1uJmFzI/s1600/traits.bmp" height="235" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"> source: </span><a href="http://stormchan.org/study/src/1347441918244.pdf" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">http://stormchan.org/study/src/1347441918244.pdf</a><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Back to learning. When
it comes to IQ the percent heritable, as you might expect, changes with aging –
probably because the environment has the most impact early on, then less throughout
most of life. </div>
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Whatever it is that is measured by the IQ test is largely
carried in DNA. The authors of G is for
Genes explored many nuances about IQ but didn’t really describe the measure
itself as thoroughly as I had hoped and expected, so let me draw primarily on
Dr. Grim’s lecture 14: Intelligence and IQ:</div>
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The test was designed in the early 1900s by Alfred Binet, a
Frenchman, who had recently abandoned an attempt to correlate academic prowess with skull size (First, he couldn’t get a stable measure, and then
he found no correlation). His new test,
made up of a battery of questions (he said the questions didn’t matter much,
there just had to be numerous) intending to assess a child’s mental age. He was attempting to characterize lagging students as “slow” rather than “sick," and thereby keep them out
of the asylum. Soon someone divided his
score by chronological age, hence the “quotient” began. Much later standard
deviations above and below average were used as they still are today. But Benet had explicitly stated that his test was not a
single measure of ability, just a predictor of achievement, it should not be
used for ranking normal children, and what it measured was neither innate nor
immutable. On the contrary, the whole
purpose was to help slower children do better. </div>
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It was co-opted a few years later by the American H. H.
Goddard, a eugenics enthusiast, and he used the measure in exactly the ways
Binet had warned against. Goddard
thought the IQ was a measure of the whole person, he considered intelligence innate,
and he thought it was immutable. Many
people still do. He used these now-common terms for
those at the lower end of the scale: idiot, imbecile, and moron. And it was on the
basis of his work that Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. upheld a
Virginia state law in 1920 forcing sterilization on those scoring poorly on this exam. Holmes' infamous quote:“three generations of
imbeciles is enough.”<br />
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Now the test is known to be sensitive to culture, reading
skills, age, level of development, and practice – one can easily improve their
IQ score through study. And many now argue that there are different sorts of intelligence, pointing as evidence to savants
who may be amazing at one skill and abysmal at another – or at brain injuries
which impair one ability specifically. The following intelligences are often suggested: linguistic, logical/mathematical,
spatial, musical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist, and
emotional. Darwin is an example of
naturalist intelligence, Einstein was logical/mathematical. Mozart was musical. Buddha and Ghandi were intrapersonal.</div>
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<u>G is for Genes</u> would have benefited from such a closer look
at IQ, which Asbury and Plomin refer to simply as a “g score,” but they do
point out some interesting and unexpected things about it. </div>
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“We asked thousands of children, parents, and teachers about
class sizes, school buildings, resources like books and computers, chaos in
classrooms, and a whole host of other oft-cited factors and yet, when we fed
their ideas into genetically sensitive studies, these factors … accounted for
almost none of the differences between our children in terms of their
achievement. … The environment within
the school, it appeared, had no impact on children’s academic
performance.” (p 115-16)</blockquote>
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Then what did? According to the authors, this startling finding was the reason they wrote the book. After considerable effort they found that the answer might be in the interpersonal relationships students have in school -- the non-shared experiences such as interactions with peers and teachers. <br />
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They also found that while IQ or
g is the greatest predictor of academic performance at later years, but it’s less important
for the very young for whom shared environmental factors are more important
(just like height in poor regions). If
you remove the effect of IQ altogether, achievement is still 40%
heritable for other reasons. One of these is confidence,
they say. It boosts academic
achievement and what’s more, it's is at least as heritable as IQ itself -- self confidence is, in large part, genetic. Socioeconomic status
also has a bearing on achievement, and surprisingly it is heritable too. It breaks down this way: 50% of educational
attainment is heritable, 40% of occupational status is, and 30% of income is
related, somehow, to DNA. These results
are from twin studies, I assume, although the book was not as well referenced
as I would like. </div>
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Gender differences were discussed as well. Two thirds of math ability is genetically
influenced in both genders, and boys and girls have similar average abilities
in the hard sciences. However, there are
two reasons why males might dominate the sciences. First, although the averages are similar,
there is more variability among boys.
That is, girls tend to be clustered near average in scientific aptitude,
where more boys are extra good, and more are very bad. The best
boys are better than the best girls (and the worst worse than the worst).</div>
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Second, adults tend to study what they like, not what
they’re good at; aptitude does not necessarily predict choice. A recent study showed that children who were
good at math and science but also had strong verbal skills were less likely to
go into the STEM disciplines. Women were
more likely than men to be good at both.</div>
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So what comes from all this?
The authors devote the last part of the book to policy proposals, but
honestly their plans are ideal, with a lot of individual contact, personalized assessment
and customized programs of study. It would
be prohibitively expensive. It draws to
mind a bit of wisdom I once heard about innovation: it’s very easy to be innovative
if you pretend money is not an issue. </div>
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The biggest thing I drew from the book was that when it
comes to learning, genes really really matter -- they matter about half – and this has to
do with innate intelligence(s), confidence, socioeconomic status gender and more. </div>
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In the other half, there is still a ton of wiggle room. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-30175569243693617982014-03-27T17:41:00.005-07:002015-11-12T11:06:07.835-08:00Getting Things Done ... works for me!<div class="MsoNormal">
My job is complicated and hard and I’m
surrounded by interesting people who often disagree; that's why I like it. I stay late and wake up at night thinking of ways I might do it better. I look
forward to going to the office, usually. But recently I have begun to feel things are <i>too</i>
complicated; I was clawing through emails and obligations, trying to meet deadlines and still move things forward. Whatever was on top of the pile, at the top of my inbox, or knocking at the door got my attention. Lots of little things, and some big things
began to slip by me. It was bad.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hb8TXioqsJY/VkTiCzDWX6I/AAAAAAAAAkI/Ouhy6Hq1tIk/s1600/gtd.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hb8TXioqsJY/VkTiCzDWX6I/AAAAAAAAAkI/Ouhy6Hq1tIk/s320/gtd.JPG" width="285" /></a>A friend once recommended a book called <u>Getting Things Done</u>, by David Allen, for people in my situation. He's an organizational guru, I guess, so I figured it might be good at least for tips and
commiseration so I bought a copy. It's a fairly complicated system, in that it seems to encompass just about everything. You begin by offloading all your duties, obligations and aspirations; there's a place for everything. But it's fairly straightforward too and about halfway through the book I began to to think hmmm... There are hierarchical lists: Projects, actions, tasks. And there are places called "someday, maybe" and "waiting for," and areas to dump things you haven't yet had time to sort. If you put everything down in the system, he claimed, you can then relax your biological mind. That sounds nice. </div>
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Actions items, according to Allen, should be things you
can actually complete. Not “the enrollment project” but “ask Bill for the data on x.” These are concrete pieces that you can do in a sitting, and for each you can estimate the time it will take. If that's less than 4 minutes, he says, don't write it down, just do it. Everything can be assigned a priority, of course: high, medium,
low. That much I'm already used to, but each also can have a context which is the
location or environment where it can be accomplished.
I can’t paint the bedroom when I’m at work, for example, but I can do my grading at work or at home. And any item can be tapped to move it forward a bit -- sort of a "consider this next" if time allows. There are fixed deadlines, of course, which go on the calendar ... and reminders for things you don't need to do now, but will need to do later. You can mark the things you need to do but tend to avoid, like taxes or grading. Please, system, show me the important things I have the hardest time thinking of. All these nuances made sense, I thought. <br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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When you put everything in to the system (notebooks, filing cabinets, drawers, bulletin boards) you can clear your desktop, clear your inbox, and clear your mind, he says. And then, if you're in the office, say, with 30 minutes before a meeting, you can ask it for things you can do there that are important, that will take less than 30 minutes, with priority items first. Oh and highlight the things you would most like to avoid.<br />
<br />
One of the worst things, I've found, is sending someone a task you need done before you can move forward. It might just be a question that needs answering --not exactly on my "to do" list, but not exactly off it either. The GTD system recommends a “Waiting
For” bucket for warehousing things like this. And it recommends scheduling reminders for things like this, so they aren't lost between the cracks. A calendar event should also be able to schedule its own reminder. There's another place called a <i>someday maybe </i> list where you keep track of your pipe dreams. Fix the motorcycle. Learn the piano, go to China ... not a real project or action item yet, but who knows.<br />
<br />
But Dave Allen wrote this twelve years ago. No way I'm going get out notebooks and file folders. I mean I need it synchronized with my email and calendar because that's where I feel like I spend most of my time. </div>
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So, I’m thinking to myself, someone should write an app for that. Hmm.. I typed in GTD into the Playstore and as it
turns out, someone has. It's called IQtell, and it’s become my favorite application since Google Earth; it does everything I mentioned above
and more. Syncs to my IOS, Windows, and Android devices. Plays nicely with email, calendar and my go-to notepad Evernote. I can read through my emails and swipe them right into the GTD system, organized correctly and archive the original which is still hyperlinked to the action item. It sends texts. Pretty frigging amazing, I must say.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I set it up to show just the tools I use. I make macros easily, then with just a click I'll file it, schedule it, archive it, schedule a reminder -- whatever -- and move on.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I've become a little evangelical about IQTELL and GTD. <br />
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When Google Earth came out I asked my wife to remind me of it the next day because I was sure to think it was a dream. What that did with the world, IQtell has done for my mind. I can finally see it and it's not pretty, I assure you. But it's working much better now. </div>
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I'm sold on GTD and I'm sold on IQtell too. I've invested quite a bit of time into it and have not been disappointed yet. I've since learned that there are other programs out there: You'll see them compared <a href="https://www.priacta.com/Articles/Comparison_of_GTD_Software.php">HERE.</a><br />
<br />
But I don't care. This one seems to do it all. It's free, there is a lively forum, great training videos and quick email support.<br />
<br />
Disorganizized? Try it! You may like it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-51570559922840661712014-03-02T22:17:00.001-08:002017-06-20T12:36:06.995-07:00How to Kill a Good Idea<div class="MsoNormal">
If you ever find yourself in a position of some authority
you will be able to push your own projects forward -- and I hope they are good ones because they are going to be a lot more
interesting to you than anything else is. Other people will have ideas too and
fortunately they will often be flawed. When that happens just sit them down and carefully
explain where they went wrong. Be as
encouraging as you can. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes their idea may be good; this is where
real leadership comes in. You must be quick
and ready with a response. You have to assess the proposal, the person you’re
dealing with, the climate, the surroundings, the level of threat. Think of it as a pathogen and you are the antibody; be decisive and quick. This is a direct challenge for the resources
you need to put toward yourself. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It would look bad just to fire them, and anyway you
might need creative people around in a pinch. But that good idea
has to go</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
... unless you can steal it, which is the best option for all the obvious reasons, if you can pull it
off. If the idea hasn’t been shared in a
public forum, or if it wasn’t fully formed, or it came from someone with no
status or power -- perfect. They may
even be flattered that their brainchild has been … “adopted" by someone who
is actually in a position to raise it up.
Don't feel bad about calling it yours -- it’s an opportunity for them to practice gratitude and humility. That’s very character building. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But what if you can’t take credit, how do you kill a good
idea? Here are some things to consider.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Ignore it. <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You were just too busy to open their email or return their
call (yes, you’re <i>that</i> important ). They may take their idea somewhere else, if you're lucky. Then it won’t be
your problem. Added bonus: after your dominance has been well established you'll get fewer calls to ignore. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Let’s not, and say we
did.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Don't say this outright, of course but this one is fun
because there's a lot of pretending involved.
You have to take on a little bit of the project, of course -- but
very very little. There, it’s done. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>But we already went
over that!<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Express surprise. They’ll think they missed an
important meeting, that they’re out of the loop.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>That won’t work, but
I can’t tell you why <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Say it like you know something that they don't know and that
you're even protecting them from a political gaffe or pointless effort "Oh
nope! Trust me. That'll go nowhere." Give someone nearby a knowing smile, that’ll surely throw them
off track.<br />
<br />
<b>Great idea, why don't you do it?</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Only use this one if they've come to you for help, not for permission, or it may backfire. But if you're certain they don't have the resources to follow through it will end nicely all around.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>It’s too late for
that!<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Goodness gracious, why didn't you suggest that when it would
have been helpful? Say it with
incredulity and you’ll really drive it in, ouch! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I'll take it from here</b><br />
Then just put it on the back burner indefinitely.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>That breaks best
practices<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is one of my favorites, but use it sparingly. Not only are you cool, for the jargon, but it will look like there actually is a list of "best practices" -- and you
know what they are. It's like priesthood almost.<br />
<br />
<b>There's a committee already working on that</b><br />
It could actually be true -- who would know? But imply that their work is duplicative and therefore a waste of everyone's time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>That’s already been
decided<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is a quick straight-arm technique. Sure, it’s rude, it’s blunt, but sometimes you don’t have to care.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Nice idea, but there
are more important things to do<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Yes, that’s right --<i> your </i>things.) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>There’s no budget for
that<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This may work if there is even a<i> little</i> money involved. You’re
also showing that you know the financials; they don’t. And that’s that.<br />
<br />
<b>Someone would sue us if we did that</b><br />
It's not illegal, we'd win for sure. That's not the issue. But lawsuits are expensive! Surely they'll understand.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>An attack diversion</b><br />
Use this as a last resort and only when the good idea is really bad for you. Accuse them of being sexist or racist, or homophobic -- use any of those conversation stoppers and be vehement and intimidating so everyone around you is cowed, and will appear to agree.<br />
<br />
<b>Let's do a study!</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Involve them designing an elaborate survey to measure the viability of the plan. If it comes back positive, misinterpret the results in the conclusion of a "final report." No one will read the report but the matter will be put to rest.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>You need to talk to
Joe<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is no Joe, but send them to someone peripheral and let
them try to find their way back.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I have something else
for you to do</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh, listen, that's nice but I need <i>you</i> to do something for <i>me</i>. (And you should think twice before promoting your own
ideas again, upstart).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>We've tried it and it
didn't work</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Been there, done that.
Particularly with newcomers, this will set them back. It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not; they
won’t likely question history.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>We'll discuss it at
the next meeting<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Say this at every meeting.
Notice you’re not actually saying no, you’re willing to discuss it. So they should be happy. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>It’s against policy<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s just a bit risky if there is no such policy. But then, who knows policy? Anyway what is policy? With a small p it could mean anything … even <i>best
practices</i> which just means “a pretty good idea, says me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I can’t hear you. <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Don’t say this, of course.
But pretend you don't understand their proposal. "Huh?" "What?" Misinterpret, mix up some important details. Pretend
to be baffled; it could even be fun.<br />
<br />
<b>Say something crazy</b><br />
We don't need [a stick in the sand -- (their idea)] ... we already have [a paper airplane]. It'll be so unexpected that you may get the stunned silence you're after. Then change the subject.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ll warn you that in a weak moment you might catch yourself
actually listening, as if it might be a legitimate idea worth real
consideration. You might even find
yourself wondering “hmm… wouldn’t that
be something, is it worth a try? Maybe I could actually help make that happen?” But then it’ll hit you: “Why didn’t <i>I </i>think of that?” No good. That’s the signal that it's time to pull the rip
cord: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I’ve got to go<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Look at your watch and exclaim “Oh my god. I have another
meeting!” That’s right. You just called it. With yourself. In the coffee lounge.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Another crisis averted.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-54229966917094769672013-12-15T19:34:00.001-08:002014-12-21T21:24:27.391-08:00Death: Fun with numbers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
This is about one's chance of dying, a topic I would think is of interest to just about anyone. The chances of death are measured in clever ways by the authors of The Norm Chronicles: Stories and numbers about danger, Michael Blastland and David Spiegelhalter, Brits. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tkUjAVc3bWk/Uq5110Ubw2I/AAAAAAAAATw/zi4K_DzC_24/s1600/norm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_lm_96013="null" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tkUjAVc3bWk/Uq5110Ubw2I/AAAAAAAAATw/zi4K_DzC_24/s320/norm.jpg" dua="true" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
Blastland and Spiegelhalter calculated the “micromort,” a one in a million chance of dying, for a wide variety of activities. Everything carries a little risk, they point out. The chance of getting hit by an asteroid is one in a million over a lifetime. That's one micromort. So might as well calculate the risks of things you can control, so you know what it costs before you take a flight in a small aircraft, base jump, or light up a cigarette. What’s it going to cost you. The risk of something horribly dramatic taking your life in a given day is about one in a million – that's one micromort. </div>
<br />
Being a baby is risky business, it turns out. Over a lifetime we risk about one micromort a day but the first year it's 4,300, and that's in the U.K. This is as risky as riding a motorcycle around the world. It's worse in the first few weeks, worse for underweight babies, for boys, and for children of young mothers. And Britain is a relatively safe place; worldwide, infants risk an average 40,000 micromorts (ten times the U.K.’s value). In Sierra Leone DR Congo infant mortality three times higher still. At the same time, worldwide risk of birthing, for mothers, is about 2,100 micromorts, each time. For perspective, it's just 200 in the U.S. but 11,000 in Chad.<br />
<br />
After the age of 1 things improve quickly and by 7 we enter our safest year, risking just 100 U.K. micromorts for the entire year. That’s equivalent to less than eight and a half days of risk for a British infant; less than a day’s risk for a baby in central Africa. <br />
<br />
Life choices are interesting: a minute of take-off or landing on an airplane is worth an hour of flight, but the chance of an individual dying on a commercial airline flight is just 1 in 9 million. So each airline flight is about a tenth of a micromort, that is, unless it’s a small aircraft in which case risk is a full micromort every six minutes – and that's about as dangerous as walking or bicycling. Now if you choose to jump out of the plane, with a parachute, it will cost about 10 micromorts -- a bit less for novices, who don't take extra risks, Rock climb for 3; hang glide for 8 and a base jump will cost you 430 micromorts. Scuba diving costs 8. Walk or cycle 30 miles for 1 micromort, ride a motorcycle that distance for 4. Drive a car 333 miles or take a train 7,500 miles for one micromort, isn’t this fun? Run a marathon? Seven micromorts. Two hundred for catching measles in Britain, about the same if you want a CAT scan. Careful, having your heart valve replaced will cost 52,000 micromorts.<br />
<br />
In the U.S., workers risk 4 micromorts a year just for being murdered at work. Worldwide the risk of a fatal work related accident is 160 per year. Coal mining costs 650 and commercial fishing is the worst in Britain, at 1,020 micromorts annually. These comparable figures make legislation quite interesting. What is the cost of a micromort? What are acceptable levels of risk? Gets practical, fast.<br />
<br />
Remember the dangers of infancy? Old age is worse for a lot of things, and dramatically so when it comes to avoidable accidental deaths. The graph shows very few such deaths until 19 when it jumps to about 200 micromorts per year for males (vehicle accidents, mainly), then fairly steady on until 70 when it spikes sharply and doesn't stop: 500 by the late 70s, 1,000 a year by 85 and then 2,500 thereafter.<br />
<br />
It reminds me of the joke about three senior citizens: “My vision is so bad I can’t see who I’m talking to, one says. “My neck has gotten so stiff I can’t turn my head,” another replies. “I get dizzy,” the third one said “It’s just terrible being old. But … at least we can still drive.”<br />
<br />
Besides micromorts, the authors also calculated microlives, a millionth, more or less, of an adult life -- 30 minute packets. Spend them any way you choose. All things considered, one cigarette reduces life expectancy by an average of 15 minutes -- half a microlife. Get it? That’s not only eight bucks a pack, it’s also five hours of your life, thank you.<br />
<br />
Alcohol, as we know, is good in small doses. The first drink of the evening will actually buy you an extra 33 minutes of life but then you pay 21 minutes for each drink thereafter. Every inch of waistline costs 30 minutes every day you carry it. Two hours of watching TV costs one microlife too. On the other hand you can gain microlives for good behavior: two and a half hours a week of light exercise means a 19 % reduction in risk of death, which would come to about an hour of the day. So a daily jog of 22 minutes will extend your life by an hour each time – that’s a pretty good deal, right? Run for an hour run a day and you get an hour and a half back. Hey, regular exercise doesn't cost anything, it's extra credit.<br />
<br />
You get two extra hours a day just for being female, but anyone can get two hours for eating five servings of fruit or vegetables. <br />
<br />
The book put quite a few things in a new perspective for me. I’d heard of it through The Economist so I shouldn’t have been too surprised that much of the data was for Britain. The authors tried to make it more interesting than numbers numbers numbers by adding a lot of dialogue between three fictitious characters: risk-taking Kelvin, regular-guy Norm and timid Prudence. Those parts -- about a third of the book -- were predictable and a little annoying. But it was really quite interesting to look at death this way. <br />
<br />
I so happened to have on my desk a copy of the Center For Disease Control’s National Vital Statistics Reports, it’s an esoteric subscription I have that is also quite interesting if you take the time. This report, Vol 61:9 May 2013, was called “U.S. Life Tables Eliminating Certain Causes of Death 1999-2001.” What it does, for the most part, is extract from death data one cause of death, to see what happens.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WSGzrf1CSM4/Uq5cmPAqpdI/AAAAAAAAATU/JdgflhPPXQo/s1600/chanceofdying.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WSGzrf1CSM4/Uq5cmPAqpdI/AAAAAAAAATU/JdgflhPPXQo/s400/chanceofdying.JPG" dua="true" height="231" width="400" /></a></div>
There are some summary data, to be sure. In the U.S. generally 31% die of major heart disease, 22% of cancer, and 7% of stroke. Women live longer than men. But we already know that well enough from newspapers.<br />
<br />
Honestly it’s the sort of thing Blastland and Spiegelhalter could base another book on but these data are for the U.S. Read the tables directly to put yourself to sleep: Ok, if we cure diabetes 3.3% of black women will die between the ages of 50-55. Compare to another table to learn it would be 3.4% otherwise.<br />
<br />
With a little calculation, though, I came up with some pretty interesting things myself. If we discovered a cure for Alzheimer's, for example, white females would expect an additional 72 days of life expectancy at birth, black ones 44 days, white males would gain 33 days and blacks 18. That’s because women overall live 5 years 4 months longer than men and Caucasians live 5 years 8 months longer than African Americans. Older women get Alzheimer's because women get older. On the other hand if you could eliminate all homicide, white women would live an extra 26 days, black women 80 days, white men an extra 62 days on average and black men 360 days, <i>that's almost a full year longer for life expectancy for every black male, without murder.</i> Three hundred and forty three of these days involve firearms.<br />
<br />
On the other hand suicide costs white men an average 157 days of their lives, black men just 80 days, and women of either race just 42. Why? I don't know and the NVSR doesn't come with commentary. All these data can be broken down by age, too, so while the prospect of motor vehicle accidents cost a newborn 204 days in life expectancy, it costs me at my age only 29 because my reckless years are over.<br />
<br />
I recently watched a horrifying youtube compilation of parkour accidents. Every one in it was male. So if you take away unintentional injury it's not surprising that boys will live an extra 401 days on average. Girls would gain just 197 days.<br />
<br />
That's the kind of thing you can get from the CDC if you read the tables carefully and do a little work with excel. See <a href="ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Publications/NVSR/61_09/">ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Publications/NVSR/61_09/</a> for all the tables I looked at, or go back a folder from there for other publications. Or just go to <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/">http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/</a> and poke around. <br />
<br />
Be careful though. According to Norm every two hours in front of the screen will cost you a microlife. Get up and walk around every now and then and earn it back.<br />
<br />
<img closure_lm_96013="null" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WSGzrf1CSM4/Uq5cmPAqpdI/AAAAAAAAATU/JdgflhPPXQo/s400/chanceofdying.JPG" height="55" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 506px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 407px; visibility: hidden;" width="96" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-86768929676169808242013-09-27T12:41:00.000-07:002013-12-30T21:49:12.155-08:00My Bedbug StoryTook a road trip to Montreal and upstate New York which included a day trip to the Big Apple and so Aidan unpacks his bag and comes up to me with a little bug on a sheet which he had taken on the trip and I agreed with him that it looked something like a deer tick which are common in New York, and they carry Lyme Disease, but when I put on my magnifying goggles and then verified it online, it was Insecta Hemiptera Cimicidae Cimex lectularius Linnaeus: bedbug. The sheet it was on had been unpacked for a little while so to be safe I looked his mattress over carefully and lo I found a little cluster of the bugs, various sizes, in a crease of the box spring near the head. I killed them all with a few steam puffs from a hot iron. They died so easily. <br />
<br />
I lived with cockroaches for several years in Seattle and one summer I rented a ground floor apartment in Houston and they were three inches long. I've hated cockroaches and now I hate bedbugs too.<br />
<br />
In 1996 Asian Longhorn Beetles -- another insect pest -- arrived in the U.S. in wooden pallets, just to Chicago and not more than a few blocks from my home; these big beetles kill hardwood trees and if left unchecked they would become epidemic. Fortunately Longhorn Beetles can't fly very far so they typically populate in tight clusters, that is, until someone moves some brush or firewood and then another cluster pops up more or less randomly and within 50 miles or so. Those beetles – big and pretty -- were easy to spot, stop, and kill and Chicago did just that with early detection, a prohibition on moving wood, inoculation of surrounding trees, and constant vigilance. They were all gone before I could even get a picture, a fact which I will always regret.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Photographing insects is a hobby of mine, I've been doing it for years. Arthropods are simply marvelous with their spiky jointed legs, brilliant colors and strangely imaginative features -- not to mention their horrific behavior. Anyone with a nice macro lens who's tried it is likely to agree. I once found a Mantispid, a sort of cross between a wasp and praying mantis, and it drew over 300 likes and 40 comments on the Entomology facebook page. Score. So, because I hoped and expected to never see another bedbug ever again, this time -- unlike with the Asian Beetles -- I did not miss my chance. I had already taped it shut, doors and outlets, but I crept into the infested room anyway and carefully pinched one from the bedspread, took it downstairs, flipped it on its back and plunged a pin through its belly. This is exactly the picture I wanted. So, you see, finding a bedbug was not all bad.<br />
<br />
Everyone knows New York City has bedbugs but Chicago now has more, and according to a video loop in my hardware store Uptown (about 3 miles south of me) is the geographical apex. Along with Rogers Park. That’s where I live. Come to think of it, the building next to me recently had men in hazard suits going in and out, and lots of mattresses and couches were piled in the alley. No, we didn’t get these bugs from New York, I think we got them from next door. We called New York and Montreal anyway, to warn them, and to apologize. We also called an exterminator.<br />
<br />
Adult bedbugs are about the size of an apple seed, and each of the five nymph stages is progressively smaller back to the egg which is still visible, white, like two grains of salt stuck together. With my flip-down jewelers glasses I could even see the little rings around the egg tube, and the hole in the end where one had emerged. The first nymphs are as small as the egg they came from and almost white when they're hungry -- red when they're not. The nymphs shed skin at every stage so there are casings, bugs, and plenty of black specks if you look carefully; the feces are the first and easiest thing to spot. It’s not pretty, but all they eat is blood, so that’s all they defecate as well. Little blood-poops that smear easily.<br />
<br />
What I’ve learned about bedbugs is a bit disconcerting; we may be entering an era in which they are “around,” and we have to get used to them, like cockroaches. That's like it was before WWII, I've read, before DDT became a standard consumable. Everyone best be prepared.<br />
<br />
And so, what's the deal? These bugs spend most of their time wedged in cracks, folds, or seams. They like porous surfaces and places where head and butt are both touching surfaces. They come out to eat, like once a week. Our friendly exterminator estimated they spend 99% of their time hiding. <br />
<br />
The good news is that they are fairly easy to spot, they're predictable, and they don't jump onto pets and spread around the house that way. In fact they stay as close to their food source as possible, in other words by the head of your bed and that's right where I found them. Their droppings are plentiful, hardly discrete, and they smear, of course, blood red. My exterminator explained that not only do they poop blood, they also spit a little anticoagulant into you when they bite so you leak a little too when they're done. Unfortunately they also spit a little anesthetic so you don't even know it's happened till morning, or even for a day or two. They initially congregate at the head of beds but they expand out from there as their colony grows -- toward the foot of the bed and up the walls. It seems the females flee from the males because of what entomologists call “traumatic insemination.” He simply pierces her body and inseminates the whole cavity. Too much of that can kill you. And from our perspective, females fleeing is not not a good thing because by that time they are certainly pregnant. <br />
<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tr2emtQTUGI/UkXMxc91wNI/AAAAAAAAAR0/iJPOsYc9kpY/s1600/two.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tr2emtQTUGI/UkXMxc91wNI/AAAAAAAAAR0/iJPOsYc9kpY/s400/two.JPG" width="400" /></a>Eventually I got thinking about how quickly they could spread, and I got out my calculator. Please someone check my math, given the assumptions this is what I get for one, two, four and six months’ worst-case scenario. Given that a female starts laying eggs at the adult stage 6, and each stage takes a week, then at 45 days she starts laying her 4 eggs a day. It takes a week to hatch and the gender ratio is indeed 1:1, as is typical for animals. So let's look only at females – say one pregnant female is in a suitcase you bring home. I’m guessing that like a queen bee she keeps sperm in long term storage so she stays fertilized even on her own. She lays eggs at the rate of about four a day, but we're only concerned with females, so 2(f) a day. Soon there are a stable 14 female eggs at any time because after one week while two more are laid daily, two hatch. At day 46 there are suddenly 3 adult females as the first two eggs reach maturity, and every day then there are two more adult females and that goes on for six weeks. Each of these adults is impregnated of course, as males are born too, so the number of eggs rises during the next cycle, linearly but at twice the rate of adult females because each has two eggs f every day. But on day 53 the first four grandbabies hatch, along with two more from pioneer mom so that's six new females for a total of 95 -- then ten more on day 54, 14 more girls on day 55, then 18 more, 22 more, 26 more and so on each day, adding four more than had been added the day before. These are feeding but not yet fertile.<br />
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Three months pass and we shift again as the first grandbabies become fecund. So now instead of a gentle exponential growth if you can call x+4f gentle), at 97 days -- three months plus a week for hatching -- it really gets exciting. You can see this in the charts. My take away point: pay attention. You have about 50 days to crush a little colony. In the second 50 days it gets much worse, and if you let it go five months, kiss <br />
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your world goodbye; people driving by your house will start scratching. That's when your neighbors get some. My extermininator described going into an apartment: like a murder scene. Granted, the graph describes full meals and no premature deaths, but just look at the big numbers on the y axis of the last chart. Then double it; those are just the females.<br />
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It gets just a little worse; pack one away for awhile and the whole thing is delayed again because they can live a long time without eating -- probably seven months to a year, depending on the temperature. And if you import a batch of eggs instead (and unfortunately for us, they are indeed laid in clusters) the whole scenario is delayed a month and a half while those nymphs chew their way to adulthood. We can calculate the chance of at least one male and one female in a batch of eggs. With just two eggs, the chance is an even 50-50 that you'll have at least one of each gender. With five eggs it's a 93.75% probability. <br />
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What more? They feed at night and are drawn toward heat, moisture, and still pockets of carbon dioxide (that’s you, sleeping). They don’t like dog and cat fur, thankfully, because their wimpy legs are built for scurrying, not for clawing in like a dog tick does so they don’t immediately migrate around your whole house. On a flat surface they move about as fast as ants, and since they can't climb slippery surfaces your stuff in an open plastic bin is probably safe. <br />
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Predictability is apparently their weakness: they stay near the head of your bed if they can because every nymph must eat before molting and they molt five times before they can breed. <br />
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My advice: get a pair of jeweler’s flip-down goggles and keep a look-out. You'll see them all -- eggs, nymphs, feces, and casings; they're untidy, near your pillow, and easy to spot. They are supposed to smell like rotten raspberries, almonds, or bad B.O., depending on what you read, but I didn't smell anything. Dogs can be trained to sniff out even a tiny batch, every time. You can purchase hypoallergenic mattress covers that will keep them out (or in) but you have to keep it on for a year to kill any trapped inside. <br />
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A lot of people don’t react to the anticoagulant, so if you know someone who swells up with a mosquito bite you might invite them for a sleepover, but don't tell them why -- some will have a dramatic reaction -- big big swelling, and bites that leave permanent scars, especially if you scratch them off, as they're likely to do. They do make bed bug traps which will do the same thing without the itching but hey, the human bug-bait method was recommended by our exterminator so I thought I'd pass it on. Another fun fact: while the little critters just drink blood, they can't actually spread the blood diseases, not yet, I've read. <br />
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Heat makes them die faster. At 40 degrees they'll starve in a year, at room temperature it just takes 7 months with no food. At 104 degrees they last 24 hours, at 115 degrees just 60 minutes and at 125d, 60 seconds. When I hit them with steam, that's 212 degrees, they just fell right over. You can buy a "PackTight" which is basically an overpriced canvas box, with a zip top, rack, heater and a probe thermometer so you can tell how hot it is in the middle. It's like cooking a turkey. But be warned, you ruin a lot of stuff at 125 df.<br />
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I suppose it doesn't help to know that cockroaches eat bedbugs; so do centipedes and mites, I've read. Mice, probably do, too, if that's of any use.<br />
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Chicago stopped the Asian Longhorn Beetle from spreading, stopped it cold. But here's why I think that bedbugs are different such that the game is already lost. 1) they're furtive -- mobile only 1% of the time, mainly when you're sleeping. 2) they're hardy. They'll live up to a year without eating. 3) it's a chore to get rid of them. We had to heat all our things to 125 degrees and we've been living a month with our clothes in plastic bags. 4) It's expensive, too. 5) The bites just don’t bother some people much; some won't notice, or won't care. 6) they are transferred unpredictably -- in used furniture, backbacks, cuffs, books -- so you'll find them, well, wherever people go. 7) there's a social stigma that makes the problem more common than people will want to admit. (That's why I wrote this blog. Hey, we got 'em ... and you can too!) 8) the cost of eradication falls on homeowners, not taxpayers, and 9) here's the clincher: the reservoirs are mainly behind closed doors, and on private property.<br />
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Any epidemiologist will tell you that all you need is an R0 greater than one -- more infestations than eradications, and bedbugs are here to stay. I'm guessing it'll be more like 3:1. Or 5:1. It's over.<br />
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So back to my personal story: We caught ours real early this time, thank goodness, and as it turned out I probably killed almost all of them with my iron -- it's all over but the phantom itching. And there's that one great thing I keep coming back to. <br />
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I got my picture.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Update: There may be hope for Chicago after all. The City passed a Bed Bug Ordinance which goes into effect December 2013. In any rental unit where infestation is found or suspected, the landlord must hire an exterminator until the bugs are gone. Not only that, they must also inspect the two adjacent units left and right as well as those above and below and treat them too, if necessary. And if so, the peripheral inspection continues until all adjacent bugs are killed. Landlords cant rent an infected unit and have to inform all new tenants on how to detect and treat bed bugs. Anything infected has to be wrapped in plastic before going into the dumpster. Second hand bedding has to be labeled as such. All the paperwork for all of this has to be made available to City inspectors. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Tenants will have legal responsibility too. Here, excerpted from my alderman's summary of the bill: "A tenant shall notify the landlord in writing of any known or suspected bed bug infestation in the building, or any recurring or unexplained bites stings, irritation, or sores of the skin or body which the tenant suspects is caused by bed bugs." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Tenants not only have to cooperate in the reporting and treatment -- by law -- there is one last sentence that may be the final screw. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"Any person who is found in violation of this article shall be fined not less than $300.00 nor more than $1.000.00 for each offense. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate and distinct offense to which a separate fine shall apply."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Right on! Start issuing fines, to tenants too -- and it just might work.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-81871583623324494222013-08-18T13:39:00.000-07:002013-09-15T11:11:39.124-07:00Brain Bugs: a book review<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When Dean Buonomano named his book <u>Brain Bugs</u> he associated the human mind with computer glitches, an unfortunate irony because one of the first points of the book was how different real thinking is from computation. The subtitle is “How the Brain’s Flaws Shape Our Lives;" this book is an excellent companion to Dan Kahneman’s <u><a href="http://everythingequalseverything.blogspot.com/2012/05/thinking-fast-and-slow-review.html" target="_blank">Thinking Fast and Slow</a></u>, Nate Silver's <u><a href="http://www.everythingequalseverything.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-signal-and-noise-review.html" target="_blank">The Signal and the Noise</a></u>, and Steve Pinker’s <u>How the Mind Works</u> and <u>The Stuff of Thought.</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-47cLMaaEsUE/UhEuO9GG_rI/AAAAAAAAAPg/DCMLc04DVJY/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-47cLMaaEsUE/UhEuO9GG_rI/AAAAAAAAAPg/DCMLc04DVJY/s400/Capture.JPG" width="263" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was once tricked briefly by a robotic “salesperson” on my home phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought I was talking to a human being but it was just a clever recording with pauses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And who hasn’t been playful with the iphone’s Siri?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But while people can be nearly tricked into thinking a computer is human, the opposite is far from true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s embarrassing how easy it would be to write a test to determine if something were truly a computer -- just ask me what 18 is raised to the power of 12.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Computers are excellent at digital calculation where we – through evolution – are masters at recognizing patterns; our brilliance is sensing the whole from the parts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Buonomano puts it, the organic brain is like a new computer containing both hardware and an operating system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re all wired with the same drives and emotions. But since our bodies had to survive in a shifting environment the operating system emphasized the ability to learn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The result is not a fixed balance, but a set of rules that allowed nurture to modulate our nature.” (p 15)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The book’s core question is this: “to what extent is the neural operating system established by evolution well-tuned for the digital, predator-free, sugar-abundant, special effects-filled, antiobiotic-laden, media saturated, densely populated world we have managed to build for ourselves.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer is “Not very well.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have false memories, weak numerical skills, a distorted sense of time, large blind spots, we are predisposed to certain fears, our opinions are easily manipulated and we are inclined to be satisfied with supernatural explanations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> We can thank our genes for that, genes groomed when our world was very different -- and so were we; most of the time we were a different species altogether.</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sbGI3HRiQsw/UhEvIxBCA0I/AAAAAAAAAPo/1TADVVjyY30/s1600/Capture2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sbGI3HRiQsw/UhEvIxBCA0I/AAAAAAAAAPo/1TADVVjyY30/s1600/Capture2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sbGI3HRiQsw/UhEvIxBCA0I/AAAAAAAAAPo/1TADVVjyY30/s320/Capture2.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When it’s supported with research (and this book is quite well footnoted), I really like a simple explanation with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">reach</i>: one that explains a lot of things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mind, he said, is basically comprised of a network of associations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I think “dog” I easily recall my dog, cats, dogfood, doghair, the beach,, the vacuum, my first dog, her vet, my youth, and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some links are well connected and fire frequently, others have looser connections, and many are more or less out there on their own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Buonomano's analogy is the Internet where it’s easy to map the connectivity of any node. If you search for “Chicago USA” you get 169m hits; “La Paz Bolivia” returns 3.1m and “Iringa Tanzania” returns just 151k.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not just an analogy, it is basically how the brain is strung – the neurons (nodes) store information and whenever they fire together the synapses associating them get a little stronger. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Neurons that fire together, wire together.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interestingly, the “read” operations and the “write” operations both strengthen the association so as you commit something to memory OR as you recall it, the associations become more fixed. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Look to advertisers or politicians for good examples of how this works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A devious candidate may hurt a relatively unknown opponent with sheer fabrications:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A headline: “Is Mark Peters corrupt?” will tie corruption (and all its nasty connotations) with Peters in our synapses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We may not even know this is happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Years ago a Bush campaign ad was discovered with a nearly-subliminal word “rats” flashed across his opponent’s picture. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There’s a whole lot in the memory chapter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People remember that someone <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> a baker more easily than they will remember that their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">name</i> is Baker – more images and connections simply come to mind with the occupation than the surname. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Those who can recall strings of 1,000 numbers rely heavily on associations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One elaborate system assigns a person, an action, and an object to each number 1 – 1,000 to take advantage of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pattern separation</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“George Carlin swimming” is very different from “Martha Washington’s doberman.” The numbers 235,694 and 749,209 just <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">feel</i> a lot more similar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is adrenaline-induced <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">flashbulb</i> memories, like a good scare can do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is drug-induced memory loss during the important period of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">consolidation</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Memories are often overwritten, so a witness may confidently identify the "best choice" from a lineup of innocent people, or might be influenced by suggestive questioning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And we have no</span> “memory delete” module; no effortful “forgetting.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, oddly, there is some evidence that activating an old memory can actually make it vulnerable to erasure or overwriting because the read/write operations are so closely associated.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is a chapter on errors about our sense of body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Minds are housed in the brain, so it’s interesting that we each have a sense of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">body as me</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Controlling t</span>he body is necessary to reproduce, but why is there body consciousness?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Evolution has not only ensured that the brain has access to the information from our peripheral devices, but that it endowed us with conscious awareness of these devices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you lay awake in the dark your brain does not simply verbally report the position of your left arm it goes all out and generates a sense of ownership by projecting the feeling of your arm into the extracranial world.” (93)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve all heard of the mind recreating a limb which has been amputated but, in a sense, all our limbs are phantom.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is an auditory corollary in the ringing many people hear when they start to lose their hearing for the same pitch; it’s a phantom sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neurologically, the body is laid out in the brain such that adjacent body parts correspond to adjacent brain parts, so when there is a deficit adjacent neighbor neurons and synapses can patch it over.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">An excellent chapter on time discussed how we perceive and measure time, how we relate to sequence and delay, and how <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">temporal discounting</i> causes us to make poor choices between short and long term consequences. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We don’t have a sense of time like we do, say, temperature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know how hot feels, but how does 4 years feel? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, it depends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time seems shorter when we are paying close attention to something, and may change in felt duration depending on whether it is in the future present or past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example a hectic day may just fly by, but then looking back it seemed like a long one, judging by how much occurred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A weird one, for me, was that when we observe something noisy in the distance the brain actually slows down the visual signal so it matches the sound, which travels more slowly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Studies verify this, I’m told.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There’s more about time than I have time for and the next chapter, on fear, had a fascinating bit:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some fears are innate; goslings fear hawks, humans fear angry faces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some are learned; we fear losing our jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others are something in between. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d known that chimpanzees are not innately afraid of snakes (babies will play with them), but by watching the reactions of other chimps they can easily catch a lifelong terror of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can’t do the same for, say, rabbits or flowers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The author speculates (with some support) that humans may have a similar predisposition to fear strangers -- not particular strangers, but those which we are taught to fear early on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re born fearing strangers, we just need to have them pointed out to us. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just find that depressing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not all bad though, because by creating an “other,” we create an “us,” and those within one’s own smaller community primates were able to benefit from mutual reciprocal altruism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a very clever solution when we lived amongst murderous marauders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The chapter on unreasonable reasoning delves into the same territory Dan Kahneman covered: framing, anchoring, overconfidence, loss aversion, the availability bias, conjunction fallacy: all good stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then there is the problem of emotions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the amygdala has more connections heading to the cortical area than the other way around, emotions (amygdala) easily overwhelm reason (cortex), leading to all sorts of irrational decisions. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here is a fun little demonstration of our poor grasp of probabilities:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Let’s Make a Deal, Monty Hall presented contestants with three rooms, one held a large prize and two had a goat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The contestants were asked to choose a door, after which Hall opened one of the others, revealing a goat, and then he offered to let the contestant switch or hold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some switched, some held; why would switching even matter? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many people had trouble figuring that out, even though a world cruise or new home was at stake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Buonomano put it “we are inept at making probability judgments.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>(answer: always, always switch).<o:p></o:p></em></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">His chapter on Advertising recounted how De Beers turned the flagging diamond industry around with the slogan “diamonds are forever,” thereby creating an expensive engagement essential.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And by associating them with personal, unending love, De Beers guaranteed a continued demand for NEW diamonds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very clever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So by associating a product with something we already value, advertisers build the synapse connections, they take advantage of our natural tendency to imitate peers and those of higher status, and they activate our mirror neurons so we actually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">feel </i>successful, like in the ad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Advertisers use loss aversion with free trials, and the “money illusion” to make something appear more valuable by charging more. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So a sweater selling for $30 as “half off” makes it look like a great deal on a better sweater. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it’s just a $30 sweater.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another clever trick is using a “decoy,” a product that is much like another but just a little worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could be less somehow, or may be overpriced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either way, the decoy will drive up sales for the other one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, an overpriced shrimp dish on the menu will get more people to buy the regular shrimp meal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there are two identical cars on the lot except one comes with remote ignition, it will sell better than if the other car wasn’t there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s pathetic, but it’s nice to know why it happens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, while it’s so difficult to compare apples and oranges that it can lead to terminal indecision, it’s easy to compare a bruised apple to a good one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clear choice, problem solved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, “apple” becomes a more salient idea altogether; after all, you’ve just seen two of them, and only one orange.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The chapter on superstition, and the conclusion were shorter, thinner, a little disappointing, but I’d already <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>gotten well enough to be satisfied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Read this book, if you dare!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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network image source: <a href="http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/224/985/224985746_640.jpg">http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/224/985/224985746_640.jpg</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-9880552671889837272013-07-19T21:04:00.000-07:002013-07-19T21:04:28.396-07:00An Urban Campus, Out-of-the-Box, Idea<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
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The MOOCs</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> threaten to do to higher education what online sharing has done to the music industry, what the internet has done to publishing, what Wikipedia has done to Encyclopedia Britannica, and what online services have done to news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Massive Open Online Courses, which <a href="http://www.everythingequalseverything.blogspot.com/2013/03/my-mooc-experience.html" target="_blank">as I have seen</a> can be quite impressive, threaten to take down brick and mortar institutions with enrollments in the tens of thousands, given their growing quality, appeal, and sophistication. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One asset of my university which will not be threatened by Massive
Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is its excellent location, in the center of the
Chicago Metropolitan Area – all the more important because NEIU students are
dispersed over 30 or more mile radius.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> As part of a recent study I mapped 11,000 students by their street address, placing each dot within 50 feet of their front door. Then I measured the distance of each one to campus, removed those over 50 miles (probably former addresses) and averaged the distances. The average student at my institution lives just about </span>6 miles from campus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I mapped alumni -- 60,000 of them, I found them all over the country, of course, but mostly -- 81% to be exact -- saturating the Chicago Metropolitan Area. You see, Northeastern Illinois University is a commuter campus -- we have no dorms. Students are connected to their homes and home towns throughout college, and they tend to stay in this region for work. Our students and alumni <em>own</em> the City of Chicago. The MOOCS, coming out of Stanford, Duke, and the like ... can't have it.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we geographically blanket the city, our campus certainly doesn't. We have a peaceful little 67 acres, a postage stamp, nestled between a natural area, the river, and park, and a cemetery. And surrounding our us are more than 300 municipal and county governments, hundreds of community organizations and non-profits, State and Federal government agencies, schools, libraries, businesses and a stream of events as robust as you could imagine. It is here that our students do internships take field trips, and get jobs. We attract interesting speakers and recruit adjunct faculty from professions in virtually every field. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But as great as all that is, Chicago offers something more -- it has an infrastructure that would allow us to expand -- potentially to explode if we wanted to.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me explain.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the trends in higher education is toward an "inverted curriculum," in which students are first engaged in a vexing, nasty, "capacious" problem: Something real. Take Asian Carp invading Lake Michigan, a community suffering from a local school closing, a farmers market hoping to expand, community gardens in a food desert, a failing after school program, participatory budgeting, lakefront restoration. The problems are endless in a city like this of 9 million. Each problem could be a course, and one in which students first understand all angles of the problem, in the field, then drill down into academic disciplines to help solve it. It would be an interdisciplinary effort, probably. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This has been called "problem based learning..." excellent pedagogy, but hardly revolutionary. The twist is that a course could actually be built around<em> </em>a problem in a <em>geographical</em> sense. Because we can now map students we can identify, say, a ward trying to start participatory budgeting and email all the students in the ward. Or we could contact students in a particular high school district, or those who live within a half mile of the river, or just Justice Studies students who are 15 miles from a proposed jail closing, everyone who does not have access to public transportation, or sociologists and psychologists in segregated neighborhoods, biologists near the lake, and so on. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can target market around a nasty problem, targeted based on the characteristics of the students, the location of the issue, and the nature of the capacious problem itself. </span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And if we work with an organization they will likely help with the recruitment. The alderman can use her own mailing list to promote a for-credit class attacking on a local issue. The Forest Preserve District can put out a call to their folk, addressing a vexing deer problem. The problem itself may generate the students, perhaps students new to NEIU. And once they see us, I think they will stay.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If that weren't enough, by identifying a public library near the site we may find an excellent free off-site classroom, complete with wifi for Google Chat or Skype -- perhaps done simultaneously, with several instructors, at several locations. The class could meet periodically on campus as well, making it "hybrid" (which is supposed to be best of all) as well as "inverted."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Probably libraries would welcome the traffic -- after all they also have been hit by disruptive technologies and are looking to reinvent themselves. Some will have comfortable rooms where groups can meet, or may reserve a seating area. But if libraries aren't nice enough, there are also coffee shops -- certainly students will be snacking as they work, wouldn't they. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These maps show how students may be assigned to their nearest center. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are color coded depending on their nearest center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dispersed centers (libraries, scattered Starbucks) are each labeled with the numbers of students for whom that center is the nearest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would be a simple matter to establish two or more levels of meeting places (for example, libraries, and regional libraries) for different purposes (e.g., small groups and larger group meetings). GIS will easily assign each student to both.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FFjy8gdAHKM/Uenz6-LyIGI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/IrLSXIrjILI/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FFjy8gdAHKM/Uenz6-LyIGI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/IrLSXIrjILI/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This would open classroom space on campus, particularly
during the peak times 10-12 a.m. when classrooms are hard to find but when libraries and coffee shops are mostly empty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Travel costs would be reduced for students, who would not only be working with peers (this is proved to be good pedagogy), but peers who are also neighbors (for good university-based social cohesion), on a project that affects them personally, of a real-world sort which underscores the relevance of their degree. In the process Northeastern will gain visibility, establish a working relationship with a community group, contribute to the region, and garner appreciation. And because of fewer trips to campus, the geographical reach of the University could expand, drawing on an new and untapped population. It would also reduce NEIU’s carbon footprint and decrease
congestion.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-30424177016980598922013-06-16T19:32:00.003-07:002014-04-03T19:13:19.180-07:00Good Books about Bad People<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">I just finished (in audio format biking) Robert Sutton’s “<u>The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One that Isn’t.</u>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had fought with the publisher of Harvard Business Review, which published the seed article, to keep the word Asshole in the title. That no doubt helped with sales, but there are other words for the same thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I looked up synonyms and found </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A jerk; an inappropriately or objectionably mean, inconsiderate, contemptible, obnoxious, intrusive, or rude person.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lj8ZpkeBVyA/UeXexgy_QEI/AAAAAAAAAOs/qMaQRtkgSto/s1600/noasshole.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lj8ZpkeBVyA/UeXexgy_QEI/AAAAAAAAAOs/qMaQRtkgSto/s320/noasshole.bmp" height="320" iya="true" width="209" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">I think “mean-spirited” captures it nicely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be clear, Sutton points out, the “Chronic Assholes” are not people who are having a bad day -- these are nasty people by nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be Chronic “they have to show a persistent pattern, to have a history of episodes that end with one target after another feeling belittled, put down, humiliated disrespected, oppressed, de-energized, and generally worse about themselves.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are mean to peers and especially to those beneath them but they often suck up to superiors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are kiss-up/kick down bitches and here is how they do what they do:</span></div>
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<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Personal insults</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Invading one's personal territory</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Uninvited personal contact</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Threats and intimidation, both verbal and non-verbal</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Sarcastic jokes and teasing used as insult delivery systems</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Withering email flames</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Status slaps intended to humiliate their victims</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Public shaming or status degradation rituals</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Rude interruptions</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Two-faced attacks</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Dirty looks</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Treating people as if they are invisible</span></li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Sutton gives quite a few examples of high-profile assholes -- often bosses, CEOs and business people I'd never heard of, but with chilling, despicable stories. Steve Jobs and Bobby Knight come to mind, but he names lots of others. On the noble end of the spectrum find Men's Warehouse, Costco, Southwest Airlines, Ideo, and Google. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Ironically, I suspect from little comments, anecdotes, and admissions, that Sutton can be a bit of one himself. In a revealing interview after the audiobook he snickered a bit that a co-worker glares at <em>his</em> visitors for him so, they'll leave him alone but will still think favorably of him. And get this: he advises all new Stanford faculty members to choose a few people to completely ignore. If you're not pissing a few people off, he said, you're not doing your job! And he seemed proud of that. So this fun little book is authored</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> by an expert, and here're some of his insights: </span></div>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Why are there assholes in positions of power?</span></div>
</li>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><em>They may bully their way up, especially when they have redeeming qualities that are considered essential. And then, if they can, they may hire or promote others like them.</em> </span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do you determine if someone is Certifiable?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
</li>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"><em>We're all assholes sometimes, but if it's repeated, demeaning, and it mostly targets people with lower status, the person may be Certifiable.</em></span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What do they think of themselves?</span></span></div>
</li>
<ul>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Some are aware of it, some not. Because their employees are often cowed, they often kowtow, leaving the person him/herself with an inflated self-image.</em> </span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What do their superiors think of them?</span></span></div>
</li>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>They may not know, because no one dare tell. The jerk is often well-behaved upward, and by force and manner may appear to be smarter and more essential than they actually are.</em></span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do you deal with a mean-spirited boss or coworker</span>, or employee when you can’t just fire them? </span></div>
</li>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Avoid them; disengage, psychologically detach, and anticipate abuse even if punctuated with periods of niceness. Align with other victims for mutual support. Interesting advice: care <u>less</u> about the organization. </em></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">H<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">ow do you weigh the value of a skilled employee who is also an asshole? </span></span></div>
</li>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><em>Within an organization being mean-spirited <u>is</u> incompetence. Usually that outweighs everything else.</em></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">How does an asshole hurt witnesses and bystanders? </span></span></div>
</li>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><em>Those who intercede become targets, and intimidation drives good people out as well. Morale and trust decline through the whole organization.</em> </span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">When should you confront the behavior, when ignore it?</span></div>
</li>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><em>It may depend on how badly you need your job. if the person is above you, drawing attention to the situation, even to peers, can be dangerous.</em> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span> </span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">How can you devastate an asshole?</span></div>
</li>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><em>Publicize their behavior in an external venue. Pride and humiliation are powerful motivators. This could be suicide, too.</em></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What should you do if you have employed an asshole?</span></span></div>
</li>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Get rid of them quickly, don't promote them, and if you can't dispose of them, make them </span></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a public example of what not<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to do. </span></span></em></div>
</li>
</ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Where do you find assholes?</span></div>
</li>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">Look for the close associates of known assholes.</span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"> They find others like them, and then t<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">hey stick together. </span></span></em></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">Why is it much better to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> have a “no asshole rule” than to have one that is not enforced? </span></span></div>
</li>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><em>It draws attention to the toleration of mean-spirited people, and it parades institutional hypocrisy.</em></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">Just how costly are they? </span></span></div>
</li>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Targets, bystanders and witnesses quit. Those who remain become indifferent or hostile. Theft rates increase. Absenteeism increases, and so on. The cost has been measured with a "TCA" analysis -- "Total Cost of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Assholes"</span></em></div>
</li>
</ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">Are the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">advantages</i> of acting like one?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
</li>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You do get attention, when you absolutely need it, and some assholes even manage to claw their way upward.</span></em> </span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What happens after an organization purges one?</span></div>
</li>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a often palpable feeling of relief and a realization that they were not so valuable to the organization as they had appeared to be, after all.</span></em></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the most disconcerting things I learned is how easily a "culture of mean-spiritedness" can develop. For one thing, if they are on hiring committees they will tend to hire people like themselves. Second, when they meet another asshole they adhere with a bond that is not easily broken. Third, their behaviors and attitudes are infectious -- regular people are easily sucked into acting like jerks, too. So, as Sutton put it, assholes breed assholes, and before you know it you have a veritable snakepit. There is nothing like a "swarm of assholes," Sutton wrote, "to suck the life out of civility."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Negativity is powerful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In </span><a href="http://www.everythingequalseverything.blogspot.com/2012/05/thinking-fast-and-slow-review.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thinking Fast and Slow</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, Dan Kahneman pointed out that people value positives much less than negatives; that is, if you find $50 it’s nice; if you lose $50 that's much worse ...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> a</span>nd so it is for interactions. According to Sutton one negative interaction can offset <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">five</i> positive ones. "It takes numerous encounters with positive people to offset the energy and happiness sapped by a single episode with a single asshole." <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">As practical as the Sutton book is, the next one I’ll mention is just plain unsettling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0YH_anvmlP8/Ub50fqaKOjI/AAAAAAAAAOU/jsW-iadphZ4/s1600/evil.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0YH_anvmlP8/Ub50fqaKOjI/AAAAAAAAAOU/jsW-iadphZ4/s320/evil.JPG" height="320" width="199" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">Evil Genes</span></u><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">, by Barbara Oakley, has a subtitle “Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed, and My Sister Stole My Mother’s Boyfriend.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Machiavellian personalities, the “sinisterly successful,” she explains, are people with a particular mix of personality disorders which work together effectively – but not so well for other people. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hitler, Mussolini, and Pol Pot had it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ceausescu, Somoza, Hussein, Amin, Mao and Satlin, too, and Oakley’s sister, apparently. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oakley, an associate professor of engineering, a fellow of the American institute of Medical and Biological Engineers, and obviously a Renaissance Woman, is an excellent non-fiction author to boot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every time I pick this book up, I want to read it all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Machiavellian has 1) personal charisma. 2) a keen ability to read people and 3) a profound lack of empathy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They view others as objects to be manipulated, they are not bound by conventional morality, law, or social norms and so they can lie, cheat, steal and deceive without guilt or conscience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They use aliases, they con others for pleasure or profit, they’re impulsive, irritable, aggressive, they have a disregard how others feel and don’t care about their safety either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They lack responsibility and they lack remorse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are really, really Assholes with a capital A, to the core.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And here is her thesis: psychopathy of this kind is genetic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to twins studies, it’s 81% heritable -- just 19% is influenced by environmental conditions, such as a tortured childhood or traumatic experiences. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is well known that genes affect personality; 30-60% of most personality traits are due to genetic code; twins studies are fairly conclusive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oakley goes some depth explaining how exactly this works, in the brain, with some technical but well-written detail: how genes affect serotonin transporters, for example, and how a deficit of these predispose one to anxiety, impulsivity, suicidal thoughts, instability, bulimia and binge drinking. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Genes affect the brain, which in turn influences memory, stability, mood, fear, the ability for abstract thought, trust, shame, resentment, forgiveness, empathy, moral reasoning, hostility, the ability to learning from punishment, and the ability to see the big picture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a competent, if dark, introduction to evolutionary psychology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And why aren’t these maladies stripped from the genome by natural selection?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because sometimes they do benefit the organism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the brain is wired just so, the person is almost <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">psychic</i> in their ability to read others, she said, with particular attention to their triggers and vulnerabilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And because they lack empathy there is no end to what they will do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a powerful mix, but a very bad one, for everyone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Machiavellians have their own view of right and wrong. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They enjoy manipulating and humiliating others, they are often charismatic and superficially slick but prone to violence. Those with borderline personality disorder – highly associated with Machiavellianism -- have mood swings, are emotionally unstable, often have strong fears of abandonment, are impulsive and inconsistent, and they tend to flip between idealizing others and devaluing them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This makes personal relationships, shall we say, unpredictable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oakley then <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>goes into fascinating detail about Slobodan Milosevic, Caligula, Stalin, Mao, Mugabe, Hitler, and Martha Stewart – each one a twisted story of power, cunning, and lack of empathy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a chilling thesis which I’ll characterize as “The Perfect Genetic Storm.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But not every storm is perfect, and not every Machiavellian turns into a Hitler or Mao; the same story plays out, on a smaller scale, in organizations everywhere. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how do you know if your school board or union president is Machiavellian?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oakley recommended looking for inconsistencies between public and private life: a loveless marriage for power or wealth, small private scandals, cheating, plagiary, and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She advises listening to what is being said behind backs, i.e. gossip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“While a … hoodwinked supervisor may rave about the Machiavellian’s sincerity and talent coworkers, underlings, janitors, roommates, teammates, cellmates, or simple acquaintances may have a very different story – if you happen to get their confidence.” (337)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words, keep your ear to the ground.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, she warned, the good ones are so crafty that finding them is like spotting a cat in a house of mirrors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it’s good to know they are out there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good to know.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-57552967736324710352013-05-13T08:21:00.001-07:002013-06-02T09:52:23.958-07:00This Explains Everything (a review)<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><u>This Explains Everything</u>, edited by John Brockman, is
a compilation of short answers to a question posed to the Reality Club, originally
New York City intellectuals and now online at the Edge Foundation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to its website, the Foundation
tries “to arrive at the edge of the world’s knowledge, seek out the most
complex and sophisticated minds, put them in a room together, and have them ask
each other the questions they are asking themselves.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The question 148 people answered was this: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What is your favorite deep, elegant, or
beautiful </i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">explanation? </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liked it
enough to go back through a second time and extract tidbits and gems, so this
has become more of a book report for myself than a book review, I’m afraid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xeznQTiDvA4/UZD20LZrEjI/AAAAAAAAANQ/JJqyG89AN8Y/s1600/thisexplains.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xeznQTiDvA4/UZD20LZrEjI/AAAAAAAAANQ/JJqyG89AN8Y/s200/thisexplains.JPG" width="133" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There were, as you can imagine, all sorts of answers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why the sky is blue (not as simple as I had
remembered), the origin of money, Bayesian probability, empiricism, organic
electricity, the importance of individuals, germ theory, sexual selection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why Greeks painted red figures on black pots,
The scientific method. How languages change. A haiku
poem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some were sweet and obvious. One just wrote “<strike>keep it simple.</strike>”
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I found amongst them a lot of nice little take-aways: To learn how
something works, first figure out how it got that way. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Information is the resolution of uncertainty. To
have a good idea, stop having a bad one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The brain's job </span>is not to store or
process information, it's to drive and control the actions of its large appendage, the body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> When it's clear that change is needed, it is often expensive, difficult, and time consuming; and when change is easy, the need for it is difficult to foresee. </span>Intervention
in any complicated system usually causes unintended effects. Epigenetics may be the “missing link” in the
nature/nurture debate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can't perceive
our environment accurately, or process it rationally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes limiting one’s own choices can be a good idea. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Our skill at</span> metarepresentations, like “Mary thinks John thinks it’s going to rain,”
may be what distinguishes us as human.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V_IvX1Wz6Go/UZEqpkQ_LvI/AAAAAAAAANg/sbETdzSj1ZE/s1600/cheetah.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V_IvX1Wz6Go/UZEqpkQ_LvI/AAAAAAAAANg/sbETdzSj1ZE/s200/cheetah.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Evolution figured in strongly, as I expected. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gender ratio was used to explain the
Evolutionarily Stable Strategy (S. Abbas Raza).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Samuel Arbesman explained how natural camouflage occurs; if you mix specific chemicals they result in unique patterns
depending on the size and shape of the canvas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
The same mix that m</span>akes spots on the cheetah body will form stripes on his tail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make a giraffe the size and shape of a cow and
the spots change to Heifer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dawkins explained how sight in animals saves bandwidth by mainly
detecting edges of moving objects with “strangeness neurons.”
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The brain assumes everything else has
remained the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>David Eagleman called
the brain an “inelegant device” with enough redundancy to solve the problem many
different ways. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Jennifer Jacquet explained why tit for tat is a simple
solution to the iterative Prisoner’s Dilemma, and Robert Sapolsky showed how simple
algorithms applied in quantity, as with ants, can lead to “swarm intelligence”
of groups.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The ratio between the second and fourth finger length shows how much testosterone one received in the womb, which directly affects one’s personality and interests.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Memes got support, of sorts, from Clay Shirky. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dan
Dennett argued that when someone derides an evolutionary explanation as a “just so”
story they usually have a political motive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They aren't presenting evidence
that the story is false, he said -- plenty end up true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It only means perhaps the hypothesis hasn’t
been adequately tested. And they are incredulous.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I liked these two a lot:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Natural selection is the only known counterweight to the tendency of
physical systems to lose rather than grow functional organization – the only
natural physical process that pushes populations of organisms uphill
(sometimes) into higher degrees of functional order” (John Tooby).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Peter
Atkins added that evolution is a device, like a water turbine, which harnesses
entropy, and “thus, dispersal results in a local structure, even though,
overall, the world has sunk a little more into disorder."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless of how it may seem, everything is
always getting worse!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Alison Gopniks explained that puberty comes much earlier now
than in our evolutionary past, probably because of better nutrition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> What's more, </span>common sense kicks in later than before, due to a more protective environment today: “It’s truer to say that our experience of
controlling our impulses makes the prefrontal cortex develop than it is to say
that prefrontal development makes us better at controlling our impulses.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Result: a long period in adolescence where the
engines are revved but neither steering nor brakes are ready.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hence violence, accidents, teen pregnancy, drug
abuse, etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another nice if simple one, by Brian Eno – yes, that
Brian Eno.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He pointed out the nature of
intuition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“[It] is not a quasi-mystical
voice from outside ourselves speaking through us but a sort of quick-and-dirty
processing of our prior experience.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Barry Smith was one of several who focused on metaphor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re full of “cross-modal correspondences,"
such that happy is high, sad is low, music is sharp or flat, lemons are fast and
mangos are slow … and this is useful in communication and quite likely influences our aesthetic sense.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">People who make more money feel more pressed for time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hence, someone suggested, by volunteering
ones time, time itself is worth less, and so you feel you have more of it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
that was Elizabeth Dunn;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I once read
something similar by Douglas Adams, in praise of misery. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I loved this one: Recursive abstraction by Douglas Rushkoff:
“Land becomes territory; territory then becomes property that is owned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Property itself can be represented by a deed,
and the deed can be mortgaged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mortgage
is itself an investment that can be bet against with a derivative, which can be
secured with a credit default swap.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s
value, the representations of value, and eventually a disconnection from what
has value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tragedy comes at the
moment when we forget what the abstractions represent, and then we
become vulnerable to fantasy, illusion, and abuse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Because once we’re living in a world of
created symbols and simulations, whoever has control of the map has control of
our reality.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Recipes worldwide are based on 300 ingredients, according to Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, and the ingredients vary in several dimensions (sweet, sour, bitter, etc.). By categorizing ingredients and
studying recipes researchers found that meals in the West are mostly coordinated
(creamy with creamy, etc.) while easterners combine polar opposites.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Videos consist of sequential frames, so how do we perceive
motion?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, an object must move not
too fast and not too far between frames.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then, there is a persistence of vision itself which fills the short gap between
them. Finally, movement creates a blur in each frame, which indicates what is
moving, in what direction, and how fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pixar makes animations that look so real by adding the little blur. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Time Perspective Theory was pretty interesting: some people are
oriented toward the past, present, or future and each of these has negative or
positive spin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So there are six “time
zones” to choose from. For example, past-oriented folks may be driven by regret, failure,
abuse, or trauma – or by gratitude, success, or nostalgia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently past-negative is related to anxiety,
depression, and anger “with correlations as robust as .75,” and others are correlated with particular afflictions too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One extraordinary claim was that a normal brain shows activity about a third
of a second <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before</i> the person is aware of the
sensation or phenomenon. I've heard this before. And Gerald Smallberg<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>said we simply erase confusing bits from our stream of consciousness to make
our experiences more understandable -- it’s these gaps that are exploited by card
sharks, hustlers, and magicians. Eric Topol reported that researchers in
Berkeley have used a brain image to reconstruct the youtube video the person
was watching at the time. I looked it up on youtube and wow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s uncanny. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A handful came across to me as misguided, mistaken, or
wrong. The process of natural
selection was completely misrepresented, like here: “Nature, unlike risk
engineers, prepares for what has not happened before, assuming worst harm is
possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If humans fight the last war,
nature fights the next war.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> Someone else argued the
opposite, also wrong: The Generalized Peter Principle: “in evolution, systems
tend to develop up to the limit of their adaptive competence.” Someone made an argument on raw incredulity that consciousness can’t have evolved.
One claimed that the Inverse Power Law is ubiquitous in natural systems, so that the
thousandth largest stone on a beach is a thousandth the size of the largest one,
and so on , and the same for everything else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is “inevitable as entropy or the law of gravity.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I</span> know some bell curves which would disagree.
And here’s another: someone actually claimed déjà vu experiences happen every six
months, like clockwork.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every year, “Not
one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not three. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Two</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And there was a </span>blank slate claim that people discover who they are by observing their own behavior, and therefore personalities
can be shaped by manipulating experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
Someone liked the </span>Gaia Hypothesis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But anything having to do with deep physics, I could not judge. There were
many, and they just went right over my head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Higgs
Boson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holographic pigeonhole, infinite
universes, spiners. Fermi levels at a junction … words, just words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now that I've given it some thought, I'll add a favorite of my own, an explanation I got from a course by Mohamed Noor, biology professor at Duke. It explains why my lovely dog went deaf. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Purebreds are known for hundreds of problems: everything from <em>Arcalasia</em> in the Finnish Spitz to </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0kn42UWUl6g/UZKBR_Tv6aI/AAAAAAAAAN0/7GYIj5pPBuU/s1600/deaf.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0kn42UWUl6g/UZKBR_Tv6aI/AAAAAAAAAN0/7GYIj5pPBuU/s200/deaf.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">von <em>Willebrand's Disease</em> in Setters and Whippets. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Deafness, it turns out, is common in the following: Australian Cattle Dog, Australian Terrier, Border Collie, Boston Terrier, Brussels Griffon, Bull Terrier, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Dalmatian, English Cocker Spaniel, English Setter, Finnish Spitz, Italian Greyhound, Manchester Terrier, Parson Russell Terrier, Smooth Fox Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Whippet, and Wire Fox Terrier.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It's inbreeding, of course. Inbreeding is necessary, to some extent, to create the unique features of a breed. But it can be too radical, especially when breeders cut corners. The deeper explanation of inbreeding follows: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Fact One: Problem genes are recessive</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mutations can be dominant or recessive, but most bad genes are recessive. Why? Because if they are dominant they have nowhere to hide. Consider genes X and x at a particular location If the dominant X carries deafness, dogs with either XX or Xx will be deaf. Natural selection will gradually remove every X from the gene pool. But if recessive x is the carrier, only xx dogs will be deaf, Xx will hear well and x remains in the gene pool. Maybe rare, but persistent. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Fact Two: Inbreeding removes heterozygotes</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Inbreeding makes the double-recessive combination more common. Imagine two clones (except for gender) having a baby. At different places on the chromosome mom's XX comes against dad's XX, her Xx comes against his Xx, and xx comes against xx. In the case of double dominant XX or double recessive xx the result will be the same -- XX, or xx -- because there is nothing else to choose from. But when Xx comes across Xx, you get 1/4 XX, 1/4 xx, and just one half Xx. In the next generation there are more XX's and xx's and half as many Xx's. Remember, the Xx's are healthy dogs. But with each iteration 25% of these x alleles are delegated to double-recessive xx which may mean deafness, hip dysplasia, or another malady. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That may not be beautiful, but it's a favorite, it's deep, and it's elegant and three out of four isn't bad.</span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5DL0D_N9nAQ/T5oZHuMS6LI/AAAAAAAAA8c/SCs_xuPwNvU/s320/animals+big+cats+Female-Cheetah+hunting++masaimara+amboseli+serengeti+tsavo+on-the-Lookout+endangered+animal+picture.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">cheetah picture source</span></a></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-66911726067549824402013-04-16T20:01:00.000-07:002013-04-18T17:11:10.670-07:00Teaching Naked (a review)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8jAhA0AUG7w/UW4KF10ninI/AAAAAAAAAM4/F410YBT0Oqc/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8jAhA0AUG7w/UW4KF10ninI/AAAAAAAAAM4/F410YBT0Oqc/s320/Capture.JPG" width="217" /></a></div>
The biggest lesson to draw from Jose Bowen's <u>Teaching Naked</u> is that it's time to flip the classroom: use podcasts and other technologies out of class and devote class time for more lofty pursuits. While Massive Open Online Courses threaten traditional models of higher education, many students have also come to know and appreciate the flexibility online delivery can offer. If a faculty member can record a good lecture once, perhaps with careful editing, then sharing that recording is easier and better than doing it even a second time. Students can watch it out of class and that leaves class time for collaboration, debate, developing curiosity, evaluation, synthesis, reflection, oral and written work, discovering information sources, making interdisciplinary connections, creative expression, speculation, and so on. It may be possible even to use someone else's lectures, if they are good enough (and many are).<br />
<br />
There's no escaping the fact that the Internet has changed everything. There is so much information available on line that the role of the faculty member is no longer to offer content, but to filter the content and package it. People will pay for apps, he pointed out, which package and deliver selected bits of information which is already available for free. The roll of the faculty member therefore is like a good app - they helping students find, filter, sort, focus, assess, critique and process information that they already have access to.<br />
<br />
Bowen, a professor and Dean of the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University, is savvy and enthusiastic - A game he created asks students to assemble a band using tracks of famous artists, each playing the same song in different styles. Educators often disparage games, he says, simply because of the content they often deliver. But there is much to learn from the games; good ones tend to be "pleasantly frustrating," or moderately challenging. Players progress at their own pace and there are small rewards along the way. Knowledge and skills are accumulated, and they are highly motivating.<br />
<br />
He offers a lot of good advice, and much of it goes deep. There are tips and examples for what to do in and out of class. For example, he says communication with students becomes more important with the new model of learning, and (surprise) it is often best done remotely with virtual office hours and any combination of twitter, facebook, google groups, screen sharing, email, skype, dropbox, podcasts, and so on. Choose one or two communication modes, he advised. Make the contact dependable, brief, and transparent. And archive it.<br />
<br />
He injects some theory on cognitive development: 1. practice and emotion are associated with learning, 2. There are six levels of cognitive skill: Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating (based on Bloom's taxonomy), 3. There are three categories of thinking: critical, creative, and practical. 4. The developing mind moves through stages: everything the teacher says is true, then every opinion is equally valid, and finally some conclusions are better than others. It's not a book on the human mind, but this background is useful for the discussion and it does suggest that his methods may be valuable.<br />
<br />
The writing style is very conversational. I like his analogies and summary thoughts, I've plucked a few quotes to demonstrate his wit and insight:<br />
<br />
"Universities have been like gas stations; we are all pretty similar but we survive because we have a local advantage and have not had much competition." 283<br />
<br />
"While tenure has done its job by protecting research agendas, it has not fostered innovation in teaching, which we need now if we are to prosper." 284<br />
<br />
"If your institution has a campus then you're a little like Borders. You might want to get into the online book sales business, but Amazon is already there and has lower overhead." 234<br />
"If employers start not only valuing ... certifications but also requiring them, the traditional degree could be in trouble." 258<br />
<br />
"Learning requires more than just new facts; it is motivated by forcing students to confront, analyze and articulate compelling discrepancies that require change in the way they believe." 80<br />
<br />
"College teachers in general have no formal preparation for teaching, so they teach as they were taught, going back in an unbroken chain to the founding of Bologna, Paris, and Oxford universities in the 11th and 12th centuries." 20-21<br />
<br />
Yet, in his zeal he probably makes some overstatements: "Listening to a lecture and taking notes is no longer an important skill." (127) "We need to make college more like a video game." (71) "It is hard to argue that doing well on closed-book tests prepares you for anything except more testing." (183) He even recommends not wasting time commenting on graded projects, because once students see their grade they won't read the comments anyway. And generally speaking, he doesn't seem to care much for reading at all. He's referring to podcasts when he writes "When classroom discussions or activities make it clear that success occurs only by doing the preparatory activity, students prepare." But why not just require students to read the textbook, like we used to do? His answer seems to be it's futile, they will not. But why would they watch the podcasts? And why <em>can't</em> or maybe better, why <em>shouldn't </em>we require reading? Is it no longer necessary?<br />
<br />
He lost a point for those excesses, and for not having a better editor: It's rambling and often disorganized, many passages are repetitive and then there's the exaggeration. Even so, it's a valuable popular treatment of an important effort more universities are talking about, thinking about, and starting to do. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-27370015454376848792013-04-13T11:21:00.002-07:002013-04-26T21:02:15.730-07:00Generation neXt<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I went to the Higher Learning Commission’s annual meeting in Chicago last week along with 4,200 educators from across the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was held in a hotel not far from a red line, so I took the el down and finished Jose Bowen’s <u>Teaching Naked</u> while I rode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bowen had been a superstar evening speaker at the American Association of Colleges and Universities in Atlanta a few months ago -- the kind that spends most of the year on the road, he's so popular. He told us how to flip a classroom by putting the lectures on podcasts and spending valuable class time on projects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> At HLC </span>Mark Taylor was Bowen’s counterpart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Taylor is from Arkansas State University. He’s charismatic, lays on his southern accent with humor, and tells it exactly as he sees it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His session was called “Teaching Generation NeXt: Innovating College Instruction.”</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sN1NZH58dw0/UWjsa4iWLKI/AAAAAAAAAMo/UmlE-Ocjjdc/s1600/next.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sN1NZH58dw0/UWjsa4iWLKI/AAAAAAAAAMo/UmlE-Ocjjdc/s400/next.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The lecture sort of hinged around a graph tracing the same trend I show here with Total Fertility Rate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The TFR is the number of children a woman would have if she were to live her entire life at once, with the population's average age-specific fertility rates for that year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It captures child-per-woman at a single point in time and Gapminder.org let me track this measure from 1800 to the present; and the size of the circle is the total population.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just look at how family size dropped steadily through the industrial revolution just as incomes were rising (inset).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then came the “Post-War Baby Boom,” a burp, from 1945 or so to 1960.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was my generation, to be honest; I was right at the top of it, and being a third child consider myself well timed. And it was a different time. I had to chuckle at what Taylor said about my cohort because so much of it rang true. He called us “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">feral </i>kids.” We were “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">free range</i> kids.” You’d meet your pals on the street and say “what do you want to do today?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I never thought about it this way but yes, I was feral <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My parents gave me a hatchet for my fourth birthday, because we were a camping family, they trusted me, and I didn't have one yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> They trusted me. My friends and I </span>practically lived in the forest preserve:- LaBaugh Woods, which we called Sherwood Forest. It was right across the street from my house in Chicago, and neighborhood kids literally poured into our kitchen from one door and out the other, weekends and evenings. Playing kick the can was as organized as we got.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Lima Peru, where I lived for a year, I was “home schooled” for half of it; that took about an hour a day and the rest of the time we explored. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We found that if we went from our roof to the neighbor’s we could look down two floors to see eggs frying in a pan (once we dropped a crushed leaf to see what would happen).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Another day we were minding our own business, just collecting </span>scorpions in jars when a rock fight started. Some older kids started pelting us over a brick wall, so naturally we threw rocks back. At the time that seemed like the obvious response. We didn't want to hurt anyone, but this went on, exciting and almost fun until one the size of a golf ball hit me in the face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was 8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I remember climbing into the </span>belly of a cement truck to see what it was like inside one, and lining up empty flower pots from the cemetery, to watch the freight train mow them down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seat belts were not invented; m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">y family drove </span>from Chicago to California with some of us in the back of a pickup truck. Kids smoked in High School -- I mean, <em>in</em> the building. This was just the way things were done back then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Free range child. Indeed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It wasn't <em>all</em> fun and games. At home we had a rule that anyone who didn’t make the dinner cleaned up; so I washed dishes every day,. I also vacuumed, mowed, and did my own laundry and worked on the farm we lived on at the time. Besides nearly dying (or worse) more than once, what did this do for me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned to figure things out myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> So a</span>t 17 I figured I’d like to spend Christmas in Florida so with $20 in my pocket and a backpack half full of granola I did, for two wonderful weeks. I liked it so much I did it the next year too and then traveled all over the U.S. that way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> At 20 I needed a car</span> so I bought one that didn’t run and rebuilt the engine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I started a pottery studio with two friends, built a kiln and we sold our stuff at art fairs. Later in life, when I got my first house I'd never done drywall before, laid tile, sanded or finished wood floors, moved walls and doors, combined and added rooms, replaced windows, blown insulation. I hadn't done much plumbing, or electrical wiring or that sort of thing, b</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">ut I'm pretty good at all that now and I think I'm not done learning yet. I think my feral childhood (while it did set me back in other ways, no doubt) worked out ok for me in some ways, too. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i>Then, on the time line, came the baby bust: Generation X, a dip in the graph above when (as Taylor could put it) “we all took a semester off” from child rearing. Three children went back to two which is just enough for a stable population. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> When we </span>returned to parenting about a decade later things were very different. And again, I can relate because my own children are Generation neXt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This generation includes those born today (they are the <em>most</em> neXt, he said) all the way to kids entering college now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Taylor doesn’t think much of the neXt generation, it seems -- he says they’ve been spoiled and he called them the “wanted, privileged, protected children of child-centric households.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are trophy kids, and not because they are set on a shelf to be admired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s because they got trophies “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">for everything</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This kid got a trophy for showing up, he said, displaying a photo of a beaming boy in a soccer jersey, trophy in hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Look at his fat little arms, you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">know </i>he can’t run,” he said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> thinks</i> he’s a real soccer player!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ouch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But maybe he has a point in there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I look at my boys I usually conclude that we did OK as parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They seemed to enjoy their childhood, and they learned more in K-12 than I ever could have hoped for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They play instruments – piano and drums -- one has been in a rock band and the other leads a hip-hop dance crew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both are good people with good friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One’s a seasoned gymnast and diver and they speak Japanese and Chinese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And of course </span>they also have excellent hand-eye coordination; they can operate two joy sticks and 16 buttons simultaneously under heavy fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> They're multitaskers. </span>They know the Internet like I only knew Sherlock Forest and their casual social networks are huge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I were to choose a childhood, I’d very possibly choose something like theirs. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But honestly, I'm not sure they both know how to fry an egg. They've never ironed, and don't make their bed, and they'd have a hard time in a grocery store. I could go on. Yet they have very little down time and more pressure than I knew -- in some ways they're children and in other ways they have always been adults. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The impact on higher education is interesting; according to Mark Taylor the kids hitting college are often focused on affirming <em>talent </em>rather than putting in <em>effort</em> – they are more interested in getting good grades than in the hard work of learning. Just like the trophy they may have gotten for showing up, a good grade for weak effort only makes them <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">feel</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they’re learning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> A</span>nd faculty are complicit. The dominant pedagogy is based on <em>teaching </em>-- the faculty member does the work, sets the curriculum, delivers the material.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Yet literature shows that the more effective model is </span>based on <em>learning</em>, in which the hard work is done by the student and not so much the instructor. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The instructor should facilitate learning, not just teach. And we must find good ways to actually measure learning rather than simply evaluating instruction and assuming that learning is happening, on faith.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is just what is recommended in the books and literature I have been reading. Some of my favorites: 1. Flipping the classroom (delivering the lecture material on podcast, and working on “homework” in the classroom), 2. inverting the curriculum (starting by studying a capacious problem, and then digging into the disciplines to solve it), 3. community involvement (messy, real-world engagement). 4. And students can develop e-portfolios in which they demonstrate their own learning, in their own ways, clearly and succinctly. With training, peers can even help with the assessment, and the portfolios can be a professional tool of self-expression all through life. 5. Then there is the emphasis on assessment of learning. That is, <em>evidence-based</em> models of learning, rather than <em>faith-based</em> models.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For two and a half decades I've worked very hard to organize and deliver my course material in ways to make it easy to understand, and I’ll continue to do that as best I can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I might take a lesson from the mistakes I probably made in parenting and do less for others that they can do for themselves. I'm certainly guilty of driving my sons to events when they could have taken the el, biked, or called a friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I take out the trash, mow the lawn, fix the leaking toilet; my teenagers have been almost exempt from household chores their entire lives. I never wake them up when they're sleeping, I even boil the raman noodles while he’s standing right there in the kitchen. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why do I do this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two reasons come to mind. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, these guys work hard, they really do. They need time to relax, so I'll do the drudgery so they can chill a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> S</span>econd, I like doing it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I love them and I love helping them. </span>It’s self-indulgent, I admit, and I think it may be holding them back in ways that I hadn't considered. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It's quite possible that in the classroom I may be making similar choices for similar reasons. I'm thinking about this a little differently now and when I go back to teaching I'll try to mix it up a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It won't be easy! But I want to do less, and ask others to </span>do more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5335698192340049653.post-87325547129530924522013-03-09T17:21:00.000-08:002014-05-03T05:43:06.386-07:00My first MOOCs<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My university recently invited George Mehaffy, Vice
President for Academic Leadership and Change of the American Association of
State Colleges and Universities to speak to us about the “[</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZEOLinvI8Y&t=2m40s" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perils and Promise in a New Age</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">].”
What can higher education expect in the next 10 years?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Despite protests of a few colleagues who feel we are doing just fine, Mehaffy</span> left me a bit shaken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He pointed out, and not too gently, that what
happened to journalism, to the music industry, to news and publishing, to photography,
and to telecommunications ... is happening next to higher education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> There are several factors at play. </span>The public is fatigued
by taxes and has grown skeptical about the value of or need for a traditional higher
education. Higher education has not kept pace with rapid social and technological change. And the cost of college, he said, is at the “tipping point.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> There is a hunger, outside, for change.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One big threat comes in the form of new technology: Massive Open Online Courses, affectionately known as "MOOCs." In 2010 about a third of U.S. college students were taking at least
one course that was entirely or almost entirely online.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
Many of these have 30 students or so and fairly traditional in their content. But many are </span>MOOCS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One Stanford course on Artificial
Intelligence famously drew 150,000. The dropout rate is high but maybe 10,000 students completed it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MOOCs are now organized in consortia, the most successful of which has been Coursera, less</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bRYkuE-9tN4/U2TkNMsCoDI/AAAAAAAAAWU/3lJ62rfH5ho/s1600/napster.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bRYkuE-9tN4/U2TkNMsCoDI/AAAAAAAAAWU/3lJ62rfH5ho/s1600/napster.JPG" height="113" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> than a year old, with 2.8 million users. Last month it announced that it will double its number of partner institutions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The problem for those of us in the industry is this: these courses are free -- for now -- and are likely to be very inexpensive in the long run. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2012 alone private U.S. companies spent $400,000,000, Mehaffy warned
us, “<em>to take away your jobs</em>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If you’re
not worried, you’re not paying attention.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> MOOCs tend to be created by </span>[</span><a href="https://www.coursera.org/#universities" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">top institutions</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">], those with deep
pockets:
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– Brown, Rice, Ohio State, Princeton,
Rutgers, Stanford, Northwestern, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And they offer a lot of classes. </span>Flip
through this site [</span><a href="http://www.mooc-list.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MOOC-List</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">] and
you’ll see hundreds and hundreds, by title, by recent addition, by what’s about to start, by
category, by university, by length of course, by estimated hours of effort weekly
and even by “cloud tags” which show that math, health, and programming <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>courses are among the most popular at the
moment. There are nine full majors and more universities contributing all the time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I find it unsettling that I hadn’t been fully aware of the
magnitude of this force, or of its possible implications. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But something else troubles me more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We try to give our students the skills to be
<em>nimble</em>, to think creatively, and critically, and to adapt to the unpredicted changes they
are likely to face. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as an
institution I’m not sure that higher education itself is able to change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In <u>Teaching Naked</u>, Bowen wrote “College
teachers in general have no formal preparation for teaching, so they teach as
they were taught, going back in an unbroken chain to the founding of Bologna,
Paris, and Oxford universities in the 11<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> and 12<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
centuries.” I do sense the truth in this; I sometimes feel that we aspire toward conservatism, on the academic and also on the administrative side of the academy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I wouldn’t exactly call myself an innovator because I
don’t often invent things but I am an early adopter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bought my first computer in 1985, was emailing in 1989, wrote a departmental web
page before graphical browsers were available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I first taught GIS in 1989, way before it
was popular, and I moved all my courses into Podium years before Powerpoint even existed. I started a wildly successful social network called "Bughouse" on my campus a half decade
before Facebook and I made a detailed 3D
model of campus in 2007, shortly after Google made that tool available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> My whiteboard, made of a </span>hacked Wii remote, plumbing parts, and free software which I learned about on TED, cost me less than $30.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All this time I didn’t invent anything, I just used the cool new tools as
they emerged. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QtSqNvhX4CE/UTvfuurb1mI/AAAAAAAAAMY/arsD2QEe4Xg/s1600/coursera.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QtSqNvhX4CE/UTvfuurb1mI/AAAAAAAAAMY/arsD2QEe4Xg/s400/coursera.JPG" height="175" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">So a</span>fter the Mehaffy talk my curiosity was piqued and soon I was signed up for two MOOCs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I chose<em>
Introductions to Genetics and Evolution</em>, by Mohamed Noor (Associate Chair of
Biology at Duke University, editor of the Journal Evolution, and past president
of The American Genetic Association) ; and <em>Game Theory</em>, by three faculty
members at Stanford: two computer scientists Professor Yoav Shoham, and Associate
Professor Kevin Leyton-Brown, Stanford PhD and now of the University of British
Columbia; and a Stanford Professor of Economics: Matthew Jackson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are not slouches.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But they are <em>online courses</em> for Pete's sake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Surely at least one would be too easy or boring, poorly done, a bad fit,
or otherwise unsatisfying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I just wouldn’t’
have time to do them both, so I would drop the one I disliked the most and see the other one through, thick or thin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so on January 4 2013, we began. I and 20,000 classmates in one course and on Jan. 7, 40,000 in the other.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are both topics I am drawn to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been studying evolution for most of a
decade in my spare time,but I’ve never mapped a genome before or learned why
disease alleles tend to be recessive and not dominant. Nor have I calculated
the rate at which genetic drift will permanently fix or eliminate a non-selective trait, or have even wondered why it does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I knew game theory well through just one
game: prisoner’s dilemma, which <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I credit
(in its iterative form) for a great deal of altruism in nature and which I’ve
written about in a [</span><a href="http://everythingequalseverything.blogspot.com/2012/01/morality-part-3-seeds-of-morality.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">previous blog</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">]. I suspect natural systems and animal behavior incorporate games of other sorts as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not surprisingly, maybe, but I ended up liking them both. There
went my weekends; each took about 5-6 hours a week, but even so I found the pace and structure to be motivating. I’d
like to master this material, I want to see how a MOOC is run, and (gosh darn it) I’d like to get that certificate of
completion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> Fast forward: I passed <em>Game Theory</em>
last week (along with 6,000 [15%] of my original classmates) and I’m two weeks from the final for <em>Genetics. </em>I’m eager to see what Professor Noor has to say about sympatric speciation in week 9; it's a topic that has [</span><a href="http://everythingequalseverything.blogspot.com/2011/12/why-are-there-species.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">vexed me for years</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">], but the course takes a Spring Break, of all things, and I have to wait.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll describe the course structure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In <em>Genetics</em> it was always the unflappable
Mohamed Noor, an excellent lecturer whom I’ve somehow come to think of as my friend. For <em>Game Theory</em> there were three quick and competent
but more humorless professors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In both
courses -- and maybe this is a Coursera thing -- the lecturer is in one corner, highlighting Powerpoints
with a stylus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pretty straightforward and effective, I thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some lectures were interrupted by a short (ungraded) multiple choice question which returned “Correct!” or “Incorrect,
try again!,” and then was explained by the talking head immediately afterward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> There were other optional, ungraded, weekly quizzes for those who were inclined. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I liked Matt Jackson's manner, and occasionally Leyton-Brown suggested pausing
the video to think, which I found amusing, and I did it of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One can bump the timebar back to see
something again and again, or watch the whole thing twice or download it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Most consistent was the </span>level of
instruction which I would rate very good to excellent (half a star was lost by some obtuse
lectures in Game Theory, a few ambiguous exam questions and at one point someone had the audacity to introduce what he called an essential concept
but then skipped over it<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>completely because “I’m just “giving
you a taste.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The nerve!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Podcasts were about 15 minutes long and there were 7 or so
each week, available a week in advance for the eager beavers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Each week ended with </span>an untimed but
graded quiz: about 10 tough questions with a Sunday night deadline. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A discussion board was monitored by some
graduate assistants but mainly was used for peer-to-peer collaboration, and that was at a fairly
high level, I'll note.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Th</span>ere was an active thread
for each question and while no one ever gave away an answer (they’d be dropped
from the course if they did) my classmates did bump my thinking back in the right direction more than
once.</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the deadline passes you see your grade on the quiz, and receive a brief
explanation for wrong answers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Then comes the midterm or final, with a four hour time limit from the moment you open the exam.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what do you get when the course is over?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides the knowledge, in <em>Game Theory</em>, if you
earn over 70% you get a Certificate of Completion; over 90% is “With
Distinction.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For <em>Genetics</em>, it’s a
Statement of Accomplishment signed by the instructor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s all very fine and good and it doesn’t affect traditional
institutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> But in the first week of <em>Genetics</em> I received an email: "Exciting news -- we'll be the first class offering the new Signature Track option! ... this is an exciting step in the evolution of Coursera and MOOCs in general." And within a month, another: "Exciting news -- Introduction to Genetics is also one of five Coursera classes approved for college credit recommendation!" </span> The recommendation comes from the American Council on Education (ACE).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the official explanation of the Signature Track and college credit options:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">How
Signature Track works: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Signature
Track will give you the chance to link your work in this class to your identity
and earn a Verified Certificate from Duke University and Cour</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">sera.</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">
</span>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Your Work, Your Identity: Link your coursework to your real identity using your photo ID and unique typing pattern. Earn a Verified Certificate: Earn official recognition from Duke University and Coursera for your accomplishment with a verifiable electronic certificate. Share Your Success: Share your electronic course records with employers, educational institutions, or anyone else through a unique, secure URL.</span></blockquote>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Price: The
regular price of joining the Signature Track for this class is $90, but as part
of the first launch you'll be able to join for an introductory price of $49.</span></blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">How to
receive ACE college credit recommendation: Follow these
additional steps after joining Signature Track to receive a college credit
recommendation:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sign-up for and take
course’s Credit Exam: Take an online proctored exam for $69 to receive an ACE
CREDIT college credit recommendation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Send
your ACE CREDIT transcript to your school once you meet the passing criteria
for credit recommendations. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">This class
has been evaluated and recommended for 2.0 semester hours of Introduction to
Biology or General Science college credit by the American Council on
Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT).<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn't pay, but I did look at the [</span><a href="http://www2.acenet.edu/programs/ccrs/adult_learners/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">lists the colleges and universities</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">] which have agreed to consider these credits (which would have cost me$59 each). There are 1,244. Now, enrollments are already suffering from demographic declines. If the ACE accreditation becomes fully legitimate -- able to insure that the courses are top quality and that students do their own work -- two more bad things might happen. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<ol><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There will be no option but to accept the credits because univerisies not doing so will be hurt the worst. Traditional institutions may become vehicles for polishing off the major.<br /> </span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or employers will use the ACE approval <em>directly</em>. If employers can trust that an employee knows X, Y, and Z (and that would include not only history and math but critical thinking, creative writing, public speaking, teamwork, diversity, etc), it's possible that the era of the bachelor's degree will be over.</span></li>
</ol>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how does Coursera know it’s really <em>you </em>taking the course, and not
a ringer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> In my courses there were </span>checkboxes before every quiz
and exam, to the effect of “I certify that I am me.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Ha Ha.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But notice the comment about the “unique typing pattern” in the description of the Signature track, above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> You get </span>a paragraph to
type and the speed and cadence of your strokes is a unique identifier. That and a webcam -- cool, huh. For the ACE Credit, they simply proctor the exam <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">the old fashioned way: a person, a driver's licence, and a certified terminal.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not long ago most MOOCs were of the calculating sort, like these two I have enrolled in. But Coursera now offers the gamut: sustainability, ancient Greeks, ADHD, self-knowledge, business strategy, food and economics, writing, rhetoric, immigration and citizenship, philosophy and so on. And in a [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/11/business/creative-learning-pays-off-for-web-start-ups.html?hp&_r=1&" target="_blank">recent article</a>] in The NY Times I learned of a new economic model for course delivery -- I call it the Netflix model. [<a href="http://lynda.com/">Lynda.com</a>] offers 90,000 training videos in design (photography, video, web design, animation, audio production ...) -- 1,659 full courses so far. All that, for $25/mo.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now what about quality and rigor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
the first few weeks of casual engagement I realized that if I was going to pass
these classes I’d needed to get serious and take notes like … well like a
college course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I started a
composition book for each class and took about as many notes as I would in a face-to-face class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judge for yourself the difficulty
of the exam: here is a question cut from an end-of-the-week quiz for <em>Game Theory:</em></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b>War Game</b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Two opposed armies are poised to seize an island. Each army can either "attack" or "not-attack". Also, Army 1 is either "weak" or "strong" with probability p and (1−p), respectively. Army 2 is always "weak". Army's 1 type is known only to its general. An army can capture the island either by attacking when its opponent does not or by attacking when its rival does if it is strong and its rival is weak. If two armies of equal strength both attack, neither captures the island.</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 18.75pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The payoffs are as follows. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The island is worth </span><i><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; font-family: "MathJax_Math","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">M</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> if captured. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">An army has a "cost" of
fighting, which is equal to </span><i><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; font-family: "MathJax_Math","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">s</span></i><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; font-family: "MathJax_Main","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">>0</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> if it is strong and </span><i><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; font-family: "MathJax_Math","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">w</span></i><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; font-family: "MathJax_Main","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">>0</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> if it is weak (where </span><i><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; font-family: "MathJax_Math","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">s</span></i><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; font-family: "MathJax_Main","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;"><</span><i><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; font-family: "MathJax_Math","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">w</span></i><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; font-family: "MathJax_Main","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;"><</span><i><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; font-family: "MathJax_Math","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">M</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">). </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There is no cost of attacking if its
rival does not attack. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These payoffs are pictured in the
payoff matrices below:</span></blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<table border="1" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; background-color: transparent; border-collapse: collapse; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 100%;"><tbody style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box;">Weak</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"></td></tr>
<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box;">1 \ 2</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;">Attack</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;">Not-attack</td></tr>
<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box;">Attack</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;">-w,-w</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;">M,0</td></tr>
<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box;">Not-attack</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;">0,M</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;">0,0</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
with probability p</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.75pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Strong<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.75pt;"></td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.75pt;"></td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.75pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1 \ 2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.75pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Attack<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.75pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Not-attack<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.75pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Attack<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.75pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">M-s,-w<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.75pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">M,0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.75pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Not-attack<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.75pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">0,M<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.75pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">0,0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</blockquote>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div>
with probability <span style="border: 1pt windowtext; font-family: "MathJax_Main","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">1−</span><i><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; font-family: "MathJax_Math","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">p</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. When </span><i><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; font-family: "MathJax_Math","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">p</span></i><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; font-family: "MathJax_Main","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">=1/2</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">,
which is a pure strategy Bayesian equilibrium (there could be other equilibria
that are not listed as one of the options): (1's type - 1's strategy; 2's
strategy)</span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
a) (Weak - Not-Attack, Strong -
Attack; Attack</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
b) (Weak - Not-Attack, Strong -
Attack; Not-Attack);</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
c) (Weak - Attack, Strong - Attack;
Attack);</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
d) It does not exist.</blockquote>
<div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It took a lot of scratch paper but I calculated it correctly and
with confidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This could be a
graduate level course, I often thought and others on the discussion board felt the same. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what else?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coursera
helps arrange what they call “meet ups” where you can actually meet with
classmates in your city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today there are
apparently 2,334 “Coursera Communities” around the world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Chicago there was no meetup for either of my
courses but 9 people in <em>Foundations in Business Strategy</em> are getting together, as I
draft this sentence -- at a Panera Bread on Diversey. Other groups have recently met at the Harold
Washington Library, the Cultural Center, Intelligencia, Starbucks, and at a
private studio. There is also a "google hangout," on youtube where a handful of selected students from around the world get a chance for a totally unscripted conference-like chat with the professor and his T.A. I saw a bit and found it stimulating; delightful would be the word. Of course it was recorded and is now at [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/mafnoor?v=e80QGWSBmf8" target="_blank">this link</a>].</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Now there are clear benefits to humankind if education beyond high school becomes cheap or free, and ubiquitous. Great gaps will be spanned; knowledge -- even new knowledge -- will spread efficiently, quickly. From a macro perspective it's hard to see MOOCs as bad. But, like 16th century scribes facing the Gutenberg press; like newspapers facing online news -- institutions may be hurt.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best question, probably is what's next? First, what will they come up with next. Foolproof ID systems: Response-based learning paths? Real-time curricular updates? Location specific course material? Courses that learn? And second, how will -- or will, or when will -- the brick-and-mortar universities respond? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll share a little proposal about what institutions like mine <em>might</em> do, another day. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But for me, "what's next" is easy. I broke the news to my wife Nancy today at a strategic moment. She’s been a little concerned about the amount
of time this has taken and what it means for things that might need to get done around the house, and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were in
line at our local coffee shop, a public place, and I mentioned<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“...well I finished the one and in two weeks I’ll
wrap up the Genetics course.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
“You
sound disappointed,” she said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I am a
little. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but at least I did sign up for two more.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>(They are <a href="https://www.coursera.org/#course/sdt" target="_blank">Surviving Disruptive Technologies</a>, from the University of Maryland</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>And <a href="https://www.coursera.org/#course/behavioralecon" target="_blank">A Beginner’s Guide to Irrational Behavior</a>, Duke University.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>They start in 15 days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I can’t wait!)<o:p></o:p></em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1